Institute for Capitalising on Creativity

After completing her PhD with ICC, Dr Fabiola Alvarez worked as a Research Assistant with the RCUK Centre for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy, University of Glasgow. She then became a lecturer at the Institut Supérieur de Commerce (ICC) in Paris until 2018.

Currently Fabiola is a lecturer in Sociology of Work at IÉSEG School of Management in Paris; IÉSEG is AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA accredited and is a member of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles. The IÉSEG Research Center is accredited by the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).  

Dr Joanna Bletcher is a Lecturer in Communication Design Contextual Studies, at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee, where she was awarded her PhD. She is a freelance researcher, and has undertaken research with national organisations such as Craft Scotland and FutureEverything. She also held the post of Research Manager and Co-Editor of the proceedings for the 13th International Conference of the European Academy of Design - ‘Running with Scissors’, which was held at the University of Dundee in April 2019.

Jo’s thesis, an ESRC studentship with ICC and industry partner V&A Museum of Design Dundee, was entitled: ‘Prototyping the Exhibition: a practice-led investigation into the framing and communication of design as a process of innovation’. It explored how exhibition making could be used as a method of prototyping within design research, in order to examine and communicate to different audiences how design can function as a process of innovation.  

Dr Orian Brook is AHRC Leadership Fellow at Edinburgh College of Art, researching inequalities in the creative economy.

She received a PhD in Geography and Geosciences from the University of St Andrews in 2015, studying with ICC on an ESRC studentship supported by the Audience Agency. Her thesis focussed on geodemographic analysis of arts attendance.

Orian Brook's research profile

Dr Anna Brown is Associate Lecturer in the School of Management, University of St Andrews. Her research interests lie in processes of learning, and how people become skilled in and through practice. This incorporates embodied ways of knowing, reflexive practice, creativity, craft, and apprenticeship. Anna is also interested in developing qualitative research methods and has been experimenting with auto-ethnography and apprenticeship as a means of doing research.

Anna's research and approach to teaching draws on her practice as a professional ceramicist, and Fine Art training (BA(Hons) 2003). She is part of a collective that runs a ceramics gallery and studio in Edinburgh, and you can occasionally find her teaching short courses with the Edinburgh Ceramics Workshop. Anna also has professional experience in economic development and the public sector, having previously worked for the South West Regional Development Agency delivering the UK Government's Business, Innovation and Skills agenda in the South West of England.

Anna has a MLitt in Management in the Creative Industries (2012), and a PhD in Management (2017), both from the University of St Andrews.

Dr Anna Brown research profile.

Dr Saskia Coulson is a researcher, photographer and filmmaker. She is interested in how creative research and practice can be used to explore complex global challenges.

Currently, Saskia is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with WeObserve, a Horizon 2020 Coordination and Support Action that brings together four citizen observatories across Europe: GROW, LandSense, Scent and Ground Truth 2.0. WeObserve aims at building a sustainable ecosystem of citizen observatories and move citizen science into the mainstream.

Prior to WeObserve, Saskia was a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in the Horizon 2020 funded project, Making Sense. In this role, she focused on design for social innovation and developed tools for co-created citizen science activities across Europe. Saskia also held the position of Postdoctoral Research Assistant at Design in Action, an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded Knowledge Exchange Hub for the Creative Economy. Here, she worked within an interdisciplinary team at the University of Dundee, and within a national consortium of six research institutions. Saskia contributed to principal project outputs, including devising a framework for design-led innovation and delivery a major knowledge exchange event at Scottish Parliament in 2015.

Saskia holds a PhD from the Department of Design and Craft at the University of Dundee, sponsored by the V&A Museum of Design Dundee. Using design research methods, she developed a framework for an innovative residency programme for the museum. This study contributed to the national portfolio of interdisciplinary research managed by the ICC. 

Saskia also holds a MLitt (Distinction) in Managing in the Creative Industries from the University of St Andrews and a BA (Honours) in Fine Art Photography from the Glasgow School of Art.

Outside of academia, Saskia is the co-director and co-founder of CT Productions a company that combines research, photography, and filmmaking to tell stories about the lives of people and communities, nature and the environment and contemporary global issues. 

Dr Ben Fletcher-Watson manages the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh. He continues to publish widely on topics such as theatre for the very young, digital literacy, and performance for autistic people. He serves on the Boards of Starcatchers (Scotland's National Arts and Early Years Organisation), the European Alliance for Performing Arts for Youth, and the Autism Arts Festival.

Ben Fletcher-Watson research profile
Twitter: @bfletcherwatson
Blogs: https://theatreforbabies.tumblr.com/
https://relaxedperformance.wordpress.com/

Emma studied with ICC as an ESCR collaborative research student, sponsored by Dundee Contemporary Arts. She was awarded a PhD in Management by University of St Andrews in 2015, for her thesis entitled, 'Building careers, managing capitals'.

Dr Michael Franklin was awarded his PhD in 2016 following ESRC supported study into how digital engagement metrics form a market device for organising the independent film industry. During his time at the ICC Michael was able to work with the award-winning producers Sigma Films and the national film funding body.

From the ICC Michael joined ICCE at Goldsmiths College, University of London, undertaking postdoctoral research in the conceptualisation and management of risk in the film industry. He is now Lecturer in Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship at Goldsmiths. His recent work can be read in the Journal of Information, Communication and Society, and seen in the British Film Institute’s Commission on UK Independent Film, chaired by the CEO of Lionsgate UK and Europe.

Michael Franklin research profile
Website: www.mcbfranklin.com
Twitter @m_c_b_franklin 

Dr Chris Lowthorpe is InGAME Research Fellow (Technology Diversification) at Abertay University, where he is focussing on innovation, diversification and exploitation of IP, and strategic and learning experience design. Chris was awarded a PhD from Abertay University following his ICC-ESRC studentship supported by games company Denki.

Chris Lowthorpe professional profile.

Alan McKinlay is Professor of Human Resource Management at Newcastle University. His research has focussed on, among other topics,  management strategy and practices in television. With Barbara Townley, Nic Beech, and Gail Fairhurst, he was co-editor of the 2009 special issue of Human Relations and co-author of one of the issue's articles: Townley, B., Beech, N. and McKinlay, A.,  'Managing in the creative industries: managing the motley crew', Human Relations Vol 62:7, pp. 939-962.

Full research profile for Alan McKinlay

Dr Holly Patrick is a Lecturer in the Human Resource Management Group of Edinburgh Napier University’s Business School. Awarded her PhD in 2013 from the University of St Andrews, Holly’s research interests lie in the creative industries, employment precarity, institutional theory, and the craft beer sector. Since joining Napier, she has presented at the conferences for the European Group for Organisation Studies (2017), Work, Employment and Society (2018), and the Organisational Learning Knowledge and Capabilities conference (2019). Her work has been published by Edward Elgar, Routledge, Management Learning, and scholarly journals in the UK and Australia. She is currently organising a symposium for researchers and practitioners on the Craft Beer sector to be held in Edinburgh, in July 2019.

Before joining ENU, Holly was a Visiting Scholar for 2 years at the University of Technology, Sydney. During her time there, Holly’s work was presented at UTS, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and the University of Melbourne, as well as prestigious conferences such as the Australia and New Zealand Academy of Management.

In addition to her personal research agenda, Holly has been involved in several large-scale, externally funded research projects. While at St Andrews, she was part of a 5 person team assigned to deliver a report analysing the future of the European automotive industry for the governing body of the European Economic Community. At UTS, Holly was project manager of a 7 person team awarded the contract to develop the Australian Leadership Capabilities Standard.

In her spare time, Holly runs a small farm in Fife where she raises pedigree Suffolk Sheep with her family and organises Pygmy Goat Pilates classes throughout the summer.

Dr Nicola Searle is ICC Honorary Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICCE) at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Nicola is a cultural economist specialising in intellectual property and the creative industries.  She joined the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship at Goldsmiths, University of London as a lecturer in 2015 where she teaches and researches the creative industries.  She is the economics blogger for the well-known IP blog, the IPKat. Prior to her current role she was an economist at the UK Intellectual Property Office.

Earlier roles include research positions at the universities of Abertay and St Andrews and financial analysis at Goldman Sachs. She completed her PhD thesis on the economics of trade secrets in 2010 (St Andrews), her MSc in 2006 (St Andrews) and her BS in international economics in 2000 (Georgetown).

Nicola Searle research profile
https://nicolasearle.com/

Sara was awarded the PhD in Divinity from the University of St Andrews in 2014. Her ESRC Studentship with ICC was supported by Art+Christianity Enquiry and focussed on contemporary church patronage of the arts. While at St Andrews, Sara co-founded and served as editor-in-chief of Transpositions, an award-winning website that publishes articles related to art and theology.

In 2014, Sara joined the academic faculty at St Mellitus College, London as Lecturer in Theology and the Arts. Her current research focuses on how ‘the artist’ (as theologically conceived) can be a paradigm for human living in relation to the environmental crisis. Her faculty profile can be found here: https://www.stmellitus.ac.uk/profile-list/dr-sara-schumacher

Dr Dimitrinka Stoyanova Russell is a Lecturer in Human Resource Management, Cardiff Business School.

Her research focuses on work and employment in the creative industries. She is also interested in skills development, and learning in freelance environments. Themes in her research include labour markets, freelance careers, fragmentation of employment, communities of practice, social capital, networks, and small independent production companies. Dimitrinka is also interested in the ways in which the changing social and institutional environment interacts with the established norms of the professional community and the implications this has for individuals, organisations and policymakers. Her previous research has investigated the above in the context of the UK film and television sector.

Since 2011 Dimitrinka and Dr. Nick Butler (Lund University) have been researching the working lives of comedy performers in the UK. With funding from the British Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the pair interviewed over 80 professional comedians and other industry actors. They have found that the world of comedy is characterized by high levels of individualization, job insecurity, unpaid labour, reliance on personal networks and extreme variability in career paths. To this extent, the study tells us about conditions of work in the creative industries and more generally how we work today in an era of freelance labour, temporary employment and precarious conditions of work.

More recently, Dimitrinka has been looking at sustainability of artistic careers in Wales, working with the Arts Council Wales and local partners. She continues her interest in the realities and experiences of working in creative environments.

Dimi Stoyanova Russell's research profile

Prof Gregor White is Dean of Design & Informatics and Professor of Applied Creativity at Abertay University, and Co-Director of the InGAME research programme. His research interests are in the area of digital interactive entertainment in relation to both product development and online audience innovation.

Research profile for Gregor White.

Dr Bethany Whiteside is Research Lecturer and Doctoral Degrees Coordinator at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her research focuses on the cultural and social analysis of participatory dance, often through ethnographic means, with a particular focus on the ballet genre. Bethany was a founding Co-Editor of the Scottish Journal of Performance and, in 2014, joined Temple University, Philadelphia, as a Visiting Research Scholar funded by the ESRC as an Overseas Institutional Visit.

Since 2015 Bethany has worked closely with Scottish Ballet, Scotland's national dance company, through leading mixed methods evaluations and conducting research primarily in the area of Dance for Health. Programmes involved include Dance for Parkinson's Scotland (run in partnership with Dance Base) (pilot evaluation (2016/2017) and national expansion (2018-2021), Time to Dance (involving dancers with dementia, 2018-2020), and a Dance for Multiple Sclerosis pilot (2019-2020).

Bethany Whiteside research profile
Bethany Whiteside on Twitter

Honor studied for a PhD in Management as an ICC-ESRC collaborative research student, sponsored by Glasgow Life. She was awarded the PhD in 2014 for her thesis, 'Negotiations of legitimacy: the value of recognition for Glasgow UNESCO City of Music'.