"Messed Up!" Series

Johanna Novales is the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator for UCL Engineering at UCL and Executive Assistant in the Engineering Faculty Office. Since joining UCL in 2011, Johanna has championed for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, creating and delivering the Bite Size EDI series throughout the faculty, covering subjects like pronouns, microaggressions, fatphobia, and EDI in recruitment interviews. In this episode, Johanna will talk about the challenges of bringing change from within a large organisation like UCL, and they will share some of lessons learnt from enacting this change.

Patricio obtained his PhD in Security and Crime Science in 2020 and was a member of staff at the JDI from 2019 to 2023, first as a Teaching Fellow and then as a Lecturer. In late 2023, he left UCL for a position in the private sector. In this episode, he will be sharing advice on how to critically examine your career choices in academia and beyond.

Our guest this episode is Sarah Zheng. Sarah is a final-year PhD student who researches novel ways to help people detect online scams. To this end, she combines methods from cognitive science with technical development. Her Messed Up session will focus on imposter syndrome – what it is, how to identify it and how to get rid of it

Our guest this episode is Lorenzo Pasculli. Lorenzo is Deputy Director of the UCL Dawes Centre for Future Crime, and a Principal Research Fellow in the Department of Security and Crime Science. He has a background in legal studies, and his recent research focuses on corruption and globalisation, and their impact on crime prevention and criminal justice. In this session Lorenzo will be talking about his experience of writer’s block and how to push through it.

Our guest this episode is Mohammed Almazrouei. Mohammed is a recent PhD graduate in the Department of Security and Crime Science, and his research investigated the sources and impact of stress in forensic decision-making. Mohammed will be talking about his experiences of specific stressors during the PhD journey that he learned to manage with time and experience.

Our guest this episode is Alina Ristea and the title of the session is " Adapting to New Environments". Prior to joining the Department of Security and Crime Science as a lecturer, Alina has lived, studied, and worked in Romania, Austria, Canada, and three states of the USA. She will be sharing the do’s and don’ts in moving and adapting to new countries and research environments.

Our guest this episode is Vaseem Khan. Vas is the Business Development Director at UCL Deparment of Security and Crime Science. He will be sharing his stories and experiences in helping the Deparment of Security and Crime Science the past 16 years, focusing on what makes or breaks a research grant proposal and what can cause PhD student meltdowns.

Dr Patricio Estévez-Soto. Patricio completed his PhD at our department and became a Lecturer in Security and Crime Science. Patricio's research is mostly focused on crime in Mexico and Latin America and the Caribbean, on issues such as organised crime (in particular extortion), repeat victimisation, quantitative criminology, crime prevention, and the nexus between crime and public policy. He will be sharing his experience on 'How I got my job through rejections'. 

Alex is a PhD student at the Department of Security and Crime Science. Next to his PhD on migrant smuggling and trafficking networks in West and Africa, Alex is a Senior Analyst at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime specialising on armed grouyups, terrorism, migration, and sub-state political dynamics. Alex and our hosts will be discussing his experience and failures with procrastination, and how to increase productivity.

Toby Davies is a lecturer at the Department of Security and Crime Science. His research interests include complex systems, networks, crime, and riots. Toby and our hosts will be discussing his experience and failures with teaching and how to learn from early mistakes to become a better educator.

Jyoti Belur, Associate Professor at the UCL Department of Security and Crime Science, will be discussing her experience and failures with publishing, and how to deal with paper rejections and unsavoury reviews.

Kartikeya Tripathi, lecturer and chair of the Ethics Committee at the UCL Department of Security and Crime Science, discusses his experience and failures with ethics. Specifically on getting ethics approval and what it means to produce ethically sound research on the field.

Professor Kate Bowers, director of UCL’s Jill Dando Institute and Department of Security and Crime Science, discusses her experience and failures with presentations. Specifically, about the anxiety of talking about our research, the importance of striking a balance being complex yet succinct and how we can improve our presentations skills.

Professor Paul Gill, senior lecturer at the Department of Security and Crime Science, discusses the hacks, successes and failures behind research funding applications

Recent PhD graduates Dr Michael Frith and Dr Chris Lin discuss what to expect (and not to expect) during the final viva – and how to handle it

Professor Richard Wortley, the former director of the Jill Dando Institute and UCL Department of Security and Crime Science, discusses his experience and failures with effective writing.