Psychology academics in £7.7million OU project to protect women and girls online

A cross-faculty team from The Open University, including Prof. Rose Capdevila and Prof. Lisa Lazard from OU Psychology, and led by Prof. Olga Jurasz (FBL) has been awarded £7,730,000 from Research England to create a new centre for combating online violence against women and girls.

The centre, which is expected to open later this year, will develop research to inform law, policy, technology development, and practice to prevent and reduce harms to women and girls online. The research team will adopt an interdisciplinary approach by partnering with local businesses and organisations in England to provide local impacts. They will also work with global tech companies to co-design solutions that will provide accountability and help advance justice for those impacted by online harms.

Rose and Lisa will be leading projects focusing on online interactions in the context of policy and technology. The bid provides funding for two additional staff members and a PhD studentship in Psychology & Counselling. The funding from Research England is part of a £156m investment from its Expanding Excellence in England Fund supporting universities to expand their outstanding research units.