2026-27 Postdoctoral Fellows
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Primary mentor: Dr Katerina Hadjimatheou
Publications:
Journal articles
Dissertations and theses
Allen, J. P. (2026). To police the future, from data to deployment: A mixed methods study on embedding predictive analytics in police work. Doctoral thesis. University of Surrey. (Open access)article in fLIP 38, pp.12-15, published by London Independent Photography
2013 Deptford High Street, article in StreetSigns 2012/2013, pp. 20-22, published by the Centre for Urban and Community Research at Goldsmiths, University of London
2011 Deptford High Street, article in fLIP 18, p. 55, published by London Independent Photography
2011 Deptford High Street, self-published book
Planned publications:
Allen, J. ‘Policing the future, probing the present: Problematising oversight of predictive policing in the United Kingdom.’ In: Eneman, M., Miranda, D., Webster, W., and Ljungberg, J. C. AI Surveillance and the Reordering of Policing. Routledge. (Forthcoming)
Allen, J. ‘Reviewing algorithmic policing applications in practice: Tackling sociotechnical accountability challenges with oversight mechanisms.’ (Working title) Target Journal: Policing and Society (In preparation)
Allen, J. ‘Extending the input-throughput-output model of algorithmic policing: Lessons from operational insights of predictive policing.’ (Working title) Target Journal: Police Practice and Research (In preparation)
Allen, J. ‘Access denied? Reflections on using mixed methods to counter inaccessible research environments.’ (Working title) Target Journal: International Journal of Social Research Methodology (In preparation)
Other information:
Website: jonathanpaulallen.com
Google scholar: https://shorturl.at/OJiZW
Contact details:
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Research topic title: Rethinking algorithmic policing: Conceptual, methodological, and practical insights into police work and accountability
Research project description: Through this postdoctoral fellowship, I will consolidate my doctoral research by (i) writing for publication, (ii) engaging in knowledge exchange and networking, and (iii) developing research funding skills and experience.
My PhD examined how predictive tools are iteratively constructed and employed in and by police organisations. Predictive policing (one mode of algorithmic policing) aims to forecast the likelihood of future crimes to guide police actions. I investigated the process-oriented and assumption-laden nature of predictive policing, including the often-disregarded role of oversight, from the perspectives of key stakeholders to provide a comprehensive, empirically grounded account of implementation processes.
Over the course of my project, I will write three journal articles, each centred on a contribution from my doctorate. The first article explores how oversight mechanisms (e.g., police ethics committees) can address challenges of algorithmic police accountability. The second extends and refines a conceptual model of algorithmic policing by incorporating empirical insights from predictive policing. The third article proposes a mixed methods approach for researchers facing accessibility issues. (See planned publications).
I plan to engage in knowledge exchange by presenting each article at conferences and workshops. These events will first help me further develop my network with junior and senior academics, practitioners, and policing experts, and second, gather feedback on the articles before journal submission. A key event in this fellowship is a symposium, planned for April 2027 at the University of Essex, which I will organise and manage. This aims to bring practitioners and academics together to discuss the practice and research challenges of artificial intelligence in UK policing. Thereafter, I will write an accessible commentary article, based on my PhD research and reflections on the symposium, to further boost my visibility among practitioners.
I will build further research funding experience and skills by attending workshops and engaging in peer review. With this knowledge, I plan to develop a large impact-focused funding proposal for the ESRC New Investigator/Grow scheme. Initial ideas for the subsequent project include investigating the risks and benefits of increased AI centralisation for police forces and personnel in England and Wales. My aim is to draw on the networks established during the fellowship to embed collaboration and practice in the research.
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(Goldsmiths, University of London)
Primary mentor: Prof. Tara Page
Publications:
Ascroft, E. (2026). How island spaces ‘contour and nudge’ youth sexual and reproductive health and rights: mapping assemblages of power and resistance in Aruba. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 1–14.
Ascroft, E. (2026, forthcoming) Mapping praxis within the zine-ic: Navigating co-creation of sexuality education materials with young people in Aruba. In Handbook of Creative Research with Young People in Gender and Sexuality, Routledge. (Book launch is Sept 2026)
Ascroft, E. and YSAFE (2025) Youth preferences for sexuality education across Europe and Central Asia. IPPF European and Central Asian network. Report.
Ascroft, E. et al. (2025). Contraceptive decision making: How young people navigate and value diverse information sources. Brook/The Open University. Report pp 1-20.
Ascroft, E. (2024). Intra-acting with the self: Diffracting reflexivity in action-based research. Educational Action Research, 41-51
Ascroft, E (2024). Top tips for facilitating co-creative research spaces with arts-based methods, British Educational Research Association (BERA), Blog.
Ascroft, Elizabeth (2021) Gender violence through the eyes of the Bajan Youth: Using Photovoice methods in Small Island States, Visual Studies, 36(4-5)
Planned publication:
• Ascroft, E. (under review). Beyond responsiveness: methodology-in-motion for co-creative research with young people.
• Ascroft, E. Disrupting silence: arts-based co-creation as counter-practice in sexuality education with young people in Aruba. (Sex Education, forthcoming)
• Ascroft, E., Buckler, A., & Price, Y, Response-able resistanc-ing: Understanding participation and resistance in collaborative research with young people.
• Ascroft, E. & Oliveira, G. A love letter to zines: Making, materiality and reflexive knowledge production in higher education.
What can a zine do? Material-discursive entanglements of sexuality education zine-making in Aruba (Chapter in Youth cultures in the age of global media 2nd ed).
Contact details:
Email: Elizabeth.ascroft@open.ac.ukLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-ascroft-phd-20965993/
Website: www.elizabethascroft.com
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Research topic title: Methodology in Motion: Arts-based co-creation with young people in gender and sexuality research.
Research project description: Young people are often told that their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) matter, yet they are rarely trusted to shape how they learn about it, or how research on it is conducted. My doctoral research began by investigating this tension.
I worked with 12 young people (aged 14-17) to co-create sexuality education materials in Aruba, a Caribbean island shaped by colonial histories and cultures of silence around sex and sexuality. The research was conducted in partnership with the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and sexuality education service provider Famia Planea Aruba (FPA). Out of this process, the young people created an online sexuality education zine titled Amor Propio, now used in FPA’s outreach programming. (See video for presentation from the young participants.)
Beyond generating new insights into what young Arubans want from sexuality education, the research contributed a new methodological framework: methodology-in-motion. Its central premise is to challenge how researcher authority quietly reasserts itself, and to remain in motion with participants, materials, and the research process itself.
This postdoctoral fellowship is about getting this work out of the thesis and into new audiences in accessible formats. I will publish the methodological framework in peer-reviewed journals, making it available to researchers working with participatory and arts-based approaches across development, youth studies, education, and health. This includes creative outputs and papers on zine making, exploring the materiality of how knowledge is made. Alongside this, I will develop a resource for the network of IPPF practitioners employing co-creative and arts-based approaches in their SRHR work with young people.
I will also undertake an institutional visit to the University of Auckland to work with the Gender and Sexualities Research Group, whose expertise in feminist qualitative methodologies and sexuality education makes it one of the few international communities working at the same methodological intersection. This visit coincides with my attendance at the Gender and Education Association Conference, where I will present on methodology-in-motion and screen Flirting with Data, a film I made from my PhD research.
Based at Goldsmiths under the mentorship of Professor Tara Page, whose scholarship on new materialist theory and arts-based pedagogy is aligned with the theoretical foundations of my work, the fellowship marks an important step in establishing myself as an independent researcher with a distinctive voice in arts-based participatory inquiry. My longer-term ambition is to build a collaborative, internationally networked research programme working at the intersection of academia, cultural institutions, and gender and sexuality studies, developing dynamic, co-creative methodologies, including zine-based practice, that challenge who and what are recognised as knowledge-makers.
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Primary mentor: Dr Melissa Jogie
Publications:
Hegymegi, E., Turpin, H., and Christou, S. (2026). Embracing Complexity: A Framework for Creating From, With and As in Homelessness Contexts. Book chapter in, Acts of Homefullness - a collection of interdisciplinary responses to homelessness and housing stress. Edited by Haslem, N., Knutagård, M., and Macarow, K. Routledge. doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003568469
Christou, S. (2025). Home is where the hope is: uncovering the hiddenness in women's experiences of homelessness. Loughborough University. Thesis. https://doi.org/10.26174/thesis.lboro.30376048.v1
Christou, S., & Angel, D. (2025). Gender, homelessness and disaster. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389407.013.566
Christou, S. (2024). Displacement City: Fighting for Health and Homes in a Pandemic. Book review. Journal of Disaster Studies 1(1), 143-145. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/936410.
Planned publication:
- A woman’s place: homelessness and the pragmatics of (in)visibility.
- Engendering in-betweenness: belonging and being othered in women’s experiences of temporary supported accommodation.
- Hidden hope: women’s experiences of homelessness embodied in urban nature.
Contact details:
Email: sara.ar.christou@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-christou-phd-20606925/
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Research topic title: Hidden hope: women’s experiences of homelessness in London
Research project description: Homelessness in the UK has reached a point where crisis is the new normal. London is one of the cities experiencing a housing emergency, with local councils reporting that 65% of occupants of temporary accommodation are women. However, the underrepresentation of women’s experiences in data obscures the realities of homelessness, impacting on policy and service provision. In a society where homelessness is increasing, this problem will intensify until it is understood as a gendered issue rooted in structural inequality. Moreover, most studies have focused on pathways into homelessness, whereas research exploring pathways out may provide insights for supporting women. Research investigating the practical role of hope could shift focus to recovery from a strengths-based perspective, through the hopes women express for their futures. Hence, this project focuses on women’s experiences of transitioning-out of homelessness through the lens of hope.
There are two core findings in this project, firstly on women’s homelessness as a politics and pragmatics of (in)visibility, and secondly on the mobilisation of hope. In the first finding, women are collectively hidden by the systems lack of understanding of gendered experiences, resulting in them being invisible in data. The marginalisation of women prevents the development of relevant policies, effective services, and perpetuates their hiddenness. This matters, because without a gender-responsive approach, women will continue to become, remain and repeat experiences of homelessness. Hence, addressing women's homelessness requires advocating for policies that support diverse forms of homelessness, collecting more gender-specific data, and developing trauma-informed, gender-responsive services.
The second finding focuses on hope’s significance for women’s recovery. The role of hope in transitioning-out of homelessness remains under-researched. There is a need to unpack what the significance of hope is for those who experience homelessness, and how this can be applied in practice. I found that hope is not passive optimism; it is an active, transformative force in women's recovery. In this project, insights will be shared with services, discussing how mobilising hope in their move-on care can support a person’s longer-term emotional recovery from homelessness.
This Fellowship will amplify the impact of this research both inside and outside of academia through five key activities – a knowledge exchange partnership, a practical resource, publications, conferences, and a podcast series. Developing a knowledge exchange partnership with homelessness sector partners and local authorities supporting women has two aims. Firstly, to translate the research into a practical resource for services on the mobilisation of hope, to support women’s longer-term recovery from homelessness. Secondly, to leverage an existing network that is feeding-back to the government on homelessness policy and practice, by sharing recommendations for gender-responsive policy changes to prevent and end women's homelessness. Actively sharing the research with the organisations and leaders that can push for change, will help improve outcomes for marginalised women.
In addition, there is a plan to present at international conferences to communicate research findings; submit three papers for publication in journals to strengthen my trajectory as an emerging scholar; and to create and host a podcast series with other ESRC fellows to communicate about our research to a broader audience. A podcast series will provide a platform and a resource for current and future Fellows, generating further impact and fostering interdisciplinarity.
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Primary mentor: Prof. Linsey McGoey
Publications:
Khadijah Na'eem. ‘The fire before the flames: State omissions, deregulation and the limits of the Grenfell Tower public inquiry’. (2026) 53, Journal of Law and Society. S56–S72. https://doi.org/10.1111/jols.70044
Khadijah Na’eem ‘Passive Subjects or Custodians of the Free Market? Civil Servants and the Grenfell Tower Fire’ (2026) International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy. doi: 10.5204/ijcjsd.4168.
Planned publication:
Khadijah Na’eem, ‘The Grenfell Tower Fire and Regulators Neutralisations’ (Monograph)
Khadijah Na’eem, ‘Politically Constructed Ignorance and the Grenfell Tower Fire’ (Journal Article)
Khadijah Na’eem, ‘The Grenfell Tower fire: Were Regulators Captured or Capturing?’ (Journal Article)
Khadijah Na’eem, ‘Structural Secrecy and Strategic Ignorance’ (Book Chapter).
Contact details:
Email: Khadijahnaeem316@gmail.com
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Research topic title: The Grenfell Tower Fire and Regulation within Neoliberal Governance
Research project description:
It has been nine years since the Grenfell Tower fire, and legal changes have been made to address cladding fire-safety issues and social housing standards. Yet one issue endures. That is the relentless problematisation of regulation by successive governments. While the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has made significant recommendations, it has not addressed the impact of politico-economic policies on civil servants or regulatory agencies and how to mitigate it. Thus, regulation and regulators continue to be scapegoated for economic challenges instead of being recognised for their role in protecting public safety.
By producing a monograph, two academic articles, a stakeholder event and a long-term Grenfell working group, this PDF will challenge the enduring narratives surrounding regulatory enactment and enforcement.
The monograph will demonstrate that regulatory enactment and enforcement before 2017 were designed to enable manufacturers to operate with maximum possible freedom and minimal constraints. It will argue that events such as the fire will persist unless attitudes towards regulation and regulators' roles change. Two academic articles will examine how political power and free-market objectives affect regulatory processes, producing state-corporate crime.
A practitioner workshop will target academics, key stakeholders, regulatory agencies, and the Civil Service. The aim of the workshop is to disseminate my research and enable an open and sensitive discussion with key stakeholders on ongoing regulatory issues since Grenfell. Building on the workshop, I will convene a long-term online Grenfell working group to consider and collaborate on addressing regulatory issues identified by industry or academics.
The objective of the PDF is to convey to academic and practitioner audiences that political attitudes towards regulation and regulators, may lead to harmful outcomes by directing regulators to serve the free market rather than prioritising public safety.
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Primary mentor: Dr Heather Smith
Publications:
Turner, L., C. Hoolohan, and S. Mander. (2026). ‘Water Imaginaries of Care, Collectivity and Contextuality in Migrant Households' Stories of Adaptation to Water Scarcity’, The Geographical Journal 192(3): e70114. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.70114.
Turner, L., Hoolohan, C. and Mander, S. (2025). ‘Learning from off-grid water use: how the bathing practices of houseboat dwellers reconceptualise the water infrastructure–consumption
Relationship’, Consumption and Society, 4(3), 454-475.
https://doi.org/10.1332/27528499Y2025D000000057
Whitmarsh, L., Mitev, K., Nash, N., Hoolohan, C., Poortinga, W., Whittle, C., Haggar, P., Dudley, H.,
Tipping C., Turner, L., Carr, D., Felder, L., Verplanken, B. and Graham, H. (2025). ‘“Moments of Change” and Low‐Carbon Behaviours: A Multidisciplinary, Systematic Review’, Wiley
Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 16(4), e70014. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.70014
Immel-Parkinson, L., Turner, L., Rashid, M. and Hoolohan, C. (2024). Reducing domestic water use:
learning from everyday routines, Centre for Climate and Social Transformation, CAST Briefing (25).
Planned publication:
Turner, L. ‘Time-taking, water re-use and alternative water practice: the temporal demands of living with water sustainably’. Target journal: Water AlternativesSou, G., See, J., Lim, M.E.G, Turner, L. and Gera, W. ‘Beyond technofixes: Climate imaginaries “from below”’. Target journal: Futures
Caste-based Discrimination and the International Human Rights Law and Politics (Blogseries), Oxford Human Rights Hub (Forthcoming)
Caste-based Discrimination and the Advocacy Strategies in the International Human Rights Forums
Role of the International Human Rights Law in Combatting Caste-based Discrimination
Designation of India as a ‘safe country’ and the challenges faced by Indian asylum seekers in the United Kingdom
Contact details:
Email: louiseanneturner@gmail.com
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Research topic title: Slowing the flow: rethinking water sustainability through imaginaries, infrastructure and practices
Research project description:
Climate change presents an urgent imperative to rethink water sustainability. While international research demonstrates that water use outside a universal mains paradigm can be enjoyable and acceptable to users, only 0.06% of water in the UK is currently reused (IWC, 2026). This Fellowship consolidates and expands the contributions of interdisciplinary PhD research on water sustainability, using practice-led and materialist approaches to analyse everyday consumption and imaginaries of water futures in England. Drawing from case study research with 31 householders with past or present experience of water scarcity, the original research thesis demonstrated how social relationships and infrastructure are central to both expectations of water systems and everyday water use patterns. The ethnographically informed work was conducted with off-grid boater householders living in England and householders who had migrated from water-scarce countries. A significant finding across the research was the role of water containment in making water more visible and creating opportunities for reuse. This includes both large-scale technologies, such as water tanks, and everyday ‘container technologies’ (Sofia, 2000), such as sinks, buckets and bowls, which can ‘slow the flow’ of water in practices such as bathing, handwashing and dishwashing. These insights are critical at a juncture when water management is undergoing major structural and regulatory changes and supply-demand tensions have reached a crisis point, requiring novel water management solutions. A contemporary review in the thesis situated these findings within current debates, identifying specific implementation opportunities, including proposed changes to Building Regulations (2010) Part G supporting alternative water sources, the Cunliffe Report’s acknowledgement of water-reuse needs, and interest in housing policy regarding Water Neutrality.
This Fellowship adopts a multi-pronged strategy to amplify research impact, dissemination, and professional development. For academic output, the Fellow will publish a sole-author paper in Water Alternatives addressing the under-acknowledged time management and embodied physical effort required to engage in sustainable water practices, such as using domestic water tanks, reuse practices, or water conservation techniques. For impact engagement, the Fellow will co-facilitate a live, conceptual model-making workshop with no.balsa to test the practical relevance and scalability of water containment concepts with stakeholders from Anglian Water, Scottish Water, Defra, and the Institute of Water. To build international networks, a research visit to KWR in the Netherlands to share methodological innovations in building water imaginaries from water stories. At their host institution, the Fellow will establish an interdisciplinary social science in engineering network at Cranfield University and support existing SENSS PhDs. The project directly benefits policymakers, regulators, and commercial water reuse practitioners by asking stakeholders to weigh the practical trade-offs and benefits of water users' adoption of innovative technologies.
Outputs from the collaborative workshop will be used to generate an accessible policy brief, report, or public-facing article. Through an Associate Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), the Fellow will advance applied research praxis within the RGS-IBG Participatory Geographies Research Group. By advancing the empirical and theoretical understanding of water imaginaries, infrastructure, and practices, this project expands the research of impactful water research and establishes a long-term career trajectory in sustainable water management.