The Precision Mentorship Programme for Inclusive Researcher Development: A critical reflection

Effective mentorship is widely acknowledged as essential for fostering professional growth and enhancing research capabilities in UK higher education (HE). However, the process of finding a mentor often remains informal, relying heavily on personal connections, characteristics and pre-existing relationships. This critical review examines the Precision Mentorship Programme (PMP) a novel initiative developed and piloted at Kingston University with researchers in the arts and humanities. Designed to build confidence, enhance research skills, and support the creation of robust research plans and funding proposals, the PMP combined four one-hour personalised mentorship sessions with wrap-around support and resources, to guide 12 participants through the complexities of academic research and funding acquisition. In this article we describe the PMP’s design, delivery and evaluation. We draw on our experiences of developing and implementing the PMP to reflect on its successes, limitations, and broader implications for inclusive researcher development in UK HE. While the PMP successfully achieved several of its objectives, it also encountered challenges in fully addressing the diverse needs of its participants and overcoming systemic barriers to inclusive professional development and career progression. The broader implications for UK HE professional development include 1) Equipping experienced researchers with precision mentorship skills, resources and incentives to mentor, 2) Developing and testing PMP models within research groups, projects and programmes, 3) Recognising mentor’s contributions in institutional and sector quality performance frameworks. In conclusion, the PMP is a useful approach for inclusive researcher development, however for its full potential and benefits to be sustained mentors need to be recognised and rewarded by institutions and research quality assessment frameworks. Funder Acknowledgement Kingston University provided funding for this work and in the writing of this article

Care Crisis, Anti-Gender Authoritarianism and Feminist Possibilities

The care crisis, erupting at the height of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, exposed the female body and care labour as critical sites for system management. Anti-gender authoritarianism, through increased violence and patronage of a traditional patriarchal gender order, is on the rise globally, seeking to keep women in ‘their place’. How can feminism, which has so far pursued a liberal approach of integrating into mainstream society, confront this transgression?  Guided by this question, the article probes into the patriarchal division of labour, which is at the heart of the care crisis and anti-gender authoritarianism; assesses gender mainstreaming for its capacity to deliver equality; and ends with a reflection on feminist possibilities for emancipatory praxis in responding to the new challenges

Editorial Human Rights in an Age of Populist Authoritarianism

With the founding of the United Nations (UN) in 1945 and the adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) by the UN in 1948, it appeared that liberal conceptions of human rights were fundamentally embedded in mainstream politics at a global level. This of course had come on the heels of the devastation of two World Wars that had torn to shreds any notion of civilisational superiority of the West. At the same time, decolonization movements across Africa and Asia were challenging Eurocentric notions of ‘the human’ and ‘rights’, and fought for and won a more universal concept of human rights (Sahgal, 2012; also see Sahgal in this issue). Today, however, the consensus has frayed

Breaking Bad Barriers to Pursuing Research: A concordat to research equity (part 1)

This research looked to cast light on intersectional issues by considering barriers faced and connecting the difficulties encountered in pursuing a research career with participation in various identities. Job instability, international (im)mobility, an undiversified workforce, biases faced in research collaborations and in hiring processes are just some of a wide variety of barriers affecting researchers in their day-to-day work life and in establishing and progressing their careers. Some of these barriers, due to their nature, adversely affect particular identities more than others.  This can lead to negative outcomes for individuals who are prevented from successfully pursuing their career of choice, reinforcing identity stereotypes and perpetuating a lack of inclusion. Our research sought to identify real, potential and perceived barriers that exist to leading or taking part in research, recognising their existence and impact in our own multidisciplinary engineering and science academic department’s context. Barriers were explored through a survey in the first instance with subsequent focus groups. We considered 4 macro-areas of barriers: Belonging and Community; Time and Timing; Access to Resources; Communication and Information. This research tested the completeness of our understanding and elucidated the impact of the barriers on researchers’ careers. Further, we explored individual and community identity, also considering those groups of people displaying identity traits traditionally underrepresented in academia in STEM, and particularly Engineering, deriving greater nuance from lived experience and the importance of fairness, kindness and belonging in the workplace. Funder Acknowledgement The authors would like to acknowledge the Enhancing Research Culture fund from University of Warwick\u27s National Centre for Research Culture, and also WMG’s Summer Internship scheme

Enhancing Inter-Cultural Awareness Among International Postgraduate Researchers and their Research Supervisors at Warwick: A reflection from the project team

The increasing internationalisation of postgraduate research (PGR) education in the UK has highlighted the unique challenges faced by international students, who now make up around 40% of the postgraduate population. These students face a range of issues, including financial pressures, difficulties with cultural integration, language barriers, workload management, mental well-being, and mismatches in supervision expectations. There is often inadequate support and mentorship tailored to international PGRs, and supervisors may not be fully aware of the hidden barriers these students encounter. Intercultural dynamics is a significant challenge in fostering effective interactions between PGR students and their supervisors. Building intercultural awareness—knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for positive communication in a multicultural environment—is vital for creating strong relationships in this context. This project, therefore, examined the role of intercultural awareness in shaping the relationships between PGR students and their supervisors at the University of Warwick. Using semi-structured interviews with PhD students and supervisors, we explored how intercultural competence affects communication, aligns expectations, and enhances the research experience. This reflection shares the research outcomes, along with insights from the project team on the challenges encountered during the study. Future work will be to expand this research on a larger scale within Warwick and across multiple UK institutions to deepen understanding and inform supportive frameworks for international PGRs. Funding Acknowledgement The project on which to which this paper relates, ‘Enhancing Intercultural awareness among PhD students and their supervisors’, was funded by the Enhancing Research Culture Fund through Research England

Are Private Brands Morally Inferior to National Brands?

This paper investigates the moral distinctions between private brands (or private labels) and national brands within the context of economic, sustainability and innovation impacts. Private brands, owned and controlled by retailers, increasingly dominate the market, raising ethical concerns. Key areas of analysis include economic effects on consumers and producers, sustainability practices and the ethical implications of innovation and image copying. The findings suggest that private brands are morally inferior to national brands due to their detrimental impact on sustainability and innovation. The paper concludes with proposed political interventions aimed at mitigating these ethical issues, highlighting the need for more stringent regulations to ensure fair practices and enhance sustainability within the industry

Gastronationalism in Cornwall

Discussions of gastronationalism have largely focused on nationalist politics at the state level, especially in the realm of European integration and Americanisation. This paper, therefore, explores how gastronationalism is manifested at the subnational level by asking the question ‘What role does food play in the construction of Cornish national identity vis-à-vis England?’ This paper first reviews the literature around gastronationalism to explore how the concept has developed. It shall raise the example of Cornwall as having much in common with previous case studies of gastronationalism in how heritage foods are protected in a politics concerned with homogenisation. A contrast will then be drawn between the generally discussed contexts, with the strong economic incentives to develop an inclusive food culture as part of a national brand that appeals to tourists in Cornwall, which also contributes to the ‘lived brand’ of Cornwall. To investigate this question, a thematic and qualitative content analysis of local tourist boards’ promotional content is conducted in comparison to other English counties. Finally, it shall conclude that gastronationalism is conceptually relevant to the Cornish context, but the specific nature of cultural revivalism suggests the concept should be expanded to better account for subnational gastronationalist efforts

Antifeminism as a Human Right? On the Reinterpretation of Human Rights Discourse by Conservative and Far-Right Actors

This article examines the strategic appropriation and ideological reframing of human rights discourses by conservative and far-right actors, with a particular focus on Christian fundamentalist networks such as Agenda Europe. While human rights are commonly understood as a universal normative framework designed to promote equality and protect marginalised groups, recent developments suggest that actors opposed to feminist and LGBTIQA+ rights are increasingly mobilising the language and symbolism of human rights to legitimise exclusionary political agendas. The article is based on a close analysis of the policy document Restoring the Natural Order.  Its two central aims are as follows. First, it argues that the reinterpretation and appropriation of rights discourses constitute key political strategies within these movements and therefore merit closer scholarly attention. Second, it shows how Christian fundamentalist actors articulate a notion of ‘true human rights’ that are supposedly derived from an immutable ‘natural law.’ Within this framework, rights that conflict with this order - such as access to abortion or the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, are systematically portrayed as illegitimate or ‘false’ rights. The analysis identifies three interrelated tactics used to reframe human rights in this context: delegitimization, reinterpretation and co-optation. These serve not only to undermine specific rights claims, but also to challenge the very foundations of the human rights project by redefining its normative scope along conservative, hierarchical and exclusionary lines. The paper concludes that this ideological reconfiguration poses a significant threat to the inclusive and democratic potential of human rights discourses, particularly feminist achievements

The Subject in Question

When citing these papers, be aware of using the right name, title, and pages of each one.  The Truth of Humanity: The Collective Political Subject in Sartre and Badiou - NINA POWER  Capitalism and the Non-Philosophical Subject - NICK SRNICEK After the Subject: Meillassoux\u27s Ontology of \u27What May Be\u27 - PETËR GRATTON Between Emancipation and Domination: Habermasian Reflections on the Empowerment and Disempowerment of the Human Subject -SIMON SUSEN  Two Studies in Wittgenstein\u27s Subject - ANDREW STEPHENSON Varia Response to Deleuze - FRANçOIS LARUELLE On the Sublime in Nietzsche\u27s Dawn - KEITH ANSELL-PEARSON Zarathustra and the Children of Abraham - JAMES LUCHTE Heidegger and Japanese Fascism: An Unsubstantiated Connection -GRAHAM PARKES Reviews  From Symbolism to Symbolic Logic: Alain Badiou, Being and Event - DAVID MILLE

Schelling: Powers of the Idea

When citing these papers, be aware of using the right name, title, and pages of each one.  Antikritik - F.W.J. SCHELLINGOn the True Concept of Philosophy of Nature and the Correct Way of Solving its Problems - F.WJ. SCHELLING Anthropological Schema - F.W.J. SCHELLING The Life of the \u27ldea\u27: Hegel, Schelling, and Schopenhauer -TILOTTAMA RAJAN Schelling\u27s Doctrine of Abstraction - DANIEL WHISTLER \u27World\u27 in Middle Schelling: Why Nature Transcendentalises - IAIN HAMILTON GRANT Das Gewüßte wird erzählt: Schelling on the Relationship between Art, Mythology, and Narrative - JASON WIRTH Twilight of the Gods: Nancy and Schelling on the End of Myth and Politics - TYLER TRITTEN VARIA Spinoza\u27s Principle of Essential Derivation - DINO JAKUSI´CTime After Death: The Account of Fecundity in Levinas\u27s Totality and lnfinity - ROBERT KING REVIEWS AND RESPONSES Adrian Johnston: Prolegomena to Any Future Materialism, Volume I - TIMOTHY M. HACKETT  ldealism and Emergence: Three questions for Adrian Johnston - BENJAMIN BERGER  Transcendentalism in Hegel\u27s wake: A Reply to Timothy M. Hackett and Benjamin Berger - ADRIAN JOHNSTO