Prof. Claire Wallace

Organisation:

The University of Aberdeen was founded in 1495, is Scotland's third oldest University and is the fifth oldest in the UK. Aberdeen is an international university built on serving one of the most dynamic regions of Europe and is at the forefront of teaching and research in the humanities, medicine and sciences. Some University of Aberdeen successes include: 5 Nobel Prizes; high quality research with 76% of our research recognised as internationally excellent or world leading in the UK's 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF). The REF 2014 also judged that 85% of our impact on society was internationally excellent or outstanding. Research income has trebled in the last decade and the University of Aberdeen has a strong track record in commercialising research. The University’s Technology Transfer Office has, since 2007, administered 74 patents, 67 licenses and has established 17 spinout companies resulting from research findings. The University of Aberdeen has been involved in European projects since Framework 3 and has, to date, been successful in participating in more than 750 grants funded by the European Commission. Aberdeen has also been successful in securing a number of grants under schemes such as ESF, Socrates, Interreg, COST, Leonardo and holds 6 ERC Starting Grants, 1 Consolidator Grant and 4 ERC advanced grants. The University has also begun plans which include £240 million investment on infrastructure and facilities over ten years.

The University of Aberdeen has a number of administration departments which are available to support European grants, as well as personnel dedicated to dealing specifically with EU contracts. There is a dedicated European contracts officer who will draw up the required Agreements, a dedicated European liaison officer for both pre- and post-award stages, a Research Finance Office with extensive experience in administering the finances, reports and audits of European contracts, plus an office dedicated to IT support. Human Resources support at the University level includes the provision of a comprehensive and co-ordinated personnel service consistent with current employment legislation and best practice. The Sir Duncan Rice Library, which was opened in 2012, has been designed to accommodate the needs of the modern research academic, housing printed materials and a virtual library comprising in excess of 300,000 full-text electronic books, more than 10,000 full-text electronic journal titles and hundreds of electronic databases – many of these resources can be reached off campus. The university also has in-house research staff development courses which are available to all research staff; for example, time management, project management, presenting at conferences, active listening, negotiation skills, career planning, and so on. We have in place an open access policy which enables researchers to make their research outputs accessible to all through our institutional repository, PURE which contains research outputs as well as some research data. As a holder of a badge in recognition of HR Excellence in Research, the University of Aberdeen actively supports the European Charter for Researchers and complies with its code of conduct as a fair and impartial employer.

Scientific team

Participation in European/FP and other related projects

2014-2016 ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council UK) Social Media. £500,000 with dot. Rural team

2013-2014 EViDanCE. Exploring the value of digital archives and the Commain Eachdraith AHRC, £33 177 with David Beel

2012-2016 EPSRC Culture and Communities+ network. £121,000

2009-2013 Rural Digital Economy Hub (RCUK) £11.2m, Theme Leader “Enterprise and Culture”.

2008-2013 European Commission Seventh Framework Programme Project. “Health in Times of Transition” £160,140

2010-2012 Work-Care Synergies. EU Seventh Framework Programme, Dissemination Grant. £68,229.

2008-2012 European Commission, Sixth Framework Programme ENRI-East. Investigation of Ethnic minorities and national identity on the new Eastern Borderlands. £84,774

Main tasks and interest in this project

WP2 leader
Contributions to WP 1,3, 4 and management WP5
In charge for the United Kingdom case study

Case Study 9: Media tourism in Scotland (UK). This involves cultural tourism in relation to visits to sites used as film and TV series locations in media products related to Scottish history and heritage such as the “Outlander” series but also “Braveheart”, ”Mary Queen of Scots” and others.

Case study: Media tourism in Scotland

Professor Claire Wallace

Claire Wallace is Professor of Sociology at the University of Aberdeen. She has worked for many years on the role of the digital economy in rural areas and with respect to cultural heritage. She has been particularly interested in community resilience and development using quality of life approaches. More information is available on her website: www.clairewallace.info

Stephanie Garrison

Stephanie Garrison is a Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen. She has recently submitted her PhD thesis on media fandom which looks at fans and online fan communities of the novel and television series Outlander. Her research interests include media fandom, social media and fan tourism. More information is available on www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-garrison.

Dr Xiaoqing (Joyce) Chen

Dr Xiaoqing Chen is an expert in tourism studies and has published articles in top tourism journals (e.g., Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management) and academic books. She is a Lecturer in Management Studies in the Business School, University of Aberdeen. Xiaoqing’s research focuses on tourism impacts, touristic experience and host attitudes, with a particular interest in understanding tourism and hospitality phenomena on cross-cultural stage from a philosophical perspective.

John Shaddock

With an academic background in diverse aspects of enterprise management, John Shaddock has worked in many roles in the public and private sectors. With extensive senior experience in strategic management, policy development and the interface between politicians and bureaucracies, he has operated as both practitioner and adviser at local, regional, European and Council of Europe levels. With 25 years’ European project and policy activity, his specific interests include the impact of technological developments, including broadband, on regional economies, democracy and social inclusion.

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