{"id":22,"date":"2026-01-19T21:20:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T21:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education-is-empowerment\/?p=22"},"modified":"2026-01-20T13:00:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:00:21","slug":"a-shared-commitment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/education-is-empowerment\/2026\/01\/19\/a-shared-commitment\/","title":{"rendered":"A shared commitment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author: Elisabeth Barratt Hacking<\/em><\/p>\n

I am delighted to share that the Department of Education<\/a> at the University of Bath is supporting a new partnership with the Mayor of Bath\u2019s Office and Bath and\u00a0North East\u00a0Somerset (BaNES), centred on the\u00a0Mayor\u2019s\u00a02025\u201326 theme: Education is Empowerment.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This new initiative, which we launched on campus at the start of the month, takes the form of a three-month South West\u00a0Doctoral Training Partnership<\/a> (SWDTP) placement, which will see two Bath PhD researchers - Gopika Gopakumar Moothedath and Yusuf Olaniyan - appointed as Researchers in Residence in the Mayoral Office. <\/span><\/p>\n

Their role is to support the Mayor\u2019s\u00a0ambition by developing robust, locally grounded evidence on how education can empower individuals,\u00a0families\u00a0and communities across BaNES.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u202f<\/span>From conversation to collaboration<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u202f<\/span><\/i><\/b>The idea for this partnership\u00a0emerged\u00a0shortly after Professor Pankhania took up the role of Mayor, during early conversations<\/a> with\u00a0University\u00a0colleagues. Given the deep commitment across the University, and particularly within the Department of Education, to the transformative power of education (arguably our\u00a0raison d\u2019\u00eatre<\/em>), we asked a simple but important question: what more could we do to support this vision with evidence,\u00a0insight\u00a0and action?<\/span><\/p>\n

From that conversation, the idea of a PhD placement was born. Over the following six months, colleagues in the Mayor\u2019s Office, BaNES and the University worked together to make it happen. The placement was advertised to SWDTP scholars across the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences<\/a>, and I am immensely proud that two education researchers were appointed \u2014 such was the strength of the applications, in fact, that the\u00a0Mayor\u00a0decided to appoint both.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u202fCongratulations\u202fto Yusuf and Gopika.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u202f<\/span>Putting research to work, locally<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This initiative builds directly on the Department of Education\u2019s strong\u00a0track record\u00a0of research that addresses educational inequality and social change. For example:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n