Inaugural Lecture Series 2007/08 - University of Liverpool

Work experience
Anew Work Experience Policy is being circulated to staff,
offering guidance for departments providing placement
opportunities for local students.
The University has a long-established work experience
programme which helps to build vital links with schools in the
region. The aim of the programme is to encourage students to
consider the University either to study or as a potential employer.
It also contributes to the University’s Widening Participation
agenda by raising the aspirations of young people in the local
community.
Arshad Kamal (pictured), a student from Shorefields School
in Liverpool, was among the first group of students to take part
in the programme this academic year. Arshad spent two weeks
working in the Aerospace department under the supervision of
Dr Mark White, Flight Simulation Laboratory Manager. He chose
the department specifically because he wants to study
Aerospace at university and during his placement he had the
opportunity to get involved in research with a test pilot.
Sally Middleton, the University’s Work Experience Coordinator,
is keen for more departments to offer student
placements. She said: “We really appreciate all the hard work
that departments put in to organising and running the
placements. We get a lot of good feedback from both students
and departments - it’s great to know what a positive effect work
experience can have.”
If your department is interested in offering a work experience
placement, or you would like more information, please contact
Sally on 0151 795 4146 or email Sally.Middleton@liv.ac.uk.
Children’s rights
in Europe
Members of the Centre for the Study of the Child, the
Family and the Law in the Liverpool Law School have
been awarded £250,000 by the European Union
Fundamental Rights Agency to fund a research project
into children’s rights across the European Union (EU).
Their research will focus on a number of key areas,
including immigration, family welfare, poverty and
participation. The principal aim is to develop a series of
indicators that all institutions can be monitored against,
to ensure that children are being treated fairly across
the EU. The development of a ‘global strategy’ is
crucial, as the rights of children are not even
mentioned in the EU treaties and there is consequently
some inconsistency among the member states.
This year long project, which will begin in spring 2008,
will explore the subject in depth, drawing on the
expertise of charities, academics and practitioners
across Europe and collaborating with researchers in the
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights in Vienna.
Law grant
The newly-established European Law and
Policy Research Group, based in the
Liverpool Law School, has secured its first
ESRC grant – Building Capacity in Empirical
Socio-Legal Research.
The 26-month project, starting officially this
month, is the first ever grant from the
ESRC’s Researcher Development Initiative
to be awarded in Law.
The project, headed by Professor Louise
Ackers and Professor Fiona Beveridge,
draws together socio-legal researchers and
academics from six universities, including
Manchester, Sheffield, and Loughborough,
to deliver a series of workshops aimed at
encouraging and sustaining capacity in
empirical socio-legal research.
A recent Nuffield Foundation inquiry into the
state of empirical research in law
concluded: “The lack of skills, together with
the time and cost involved in empirical legal
research, as compared with doctrinal or
purely theoretical and philosophical work,
deters those with an interest in empirical
questions from engaging in empirical
legal research.”
The project responds to these barriers
through developing and delivering a
training scheme to a cohort of researchers –
including PhD students, early-career
researchers and mid-career academics
from across the social sciences, and
provides follow-up mentoring as these
participants apply the training in their
own research.
For more details visit:
www.liv.ac.uk/law/elprg/index.htm
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