Latest topics
US Presidential Election - Political Forecasting Unit
In the run up to the US Presidential Election, Professor Leighton Vaughan Williams, director of the Political Forecasting Unit at Nottingham Business School, is available for expert comment on likely outcomes and polls.
Techniques employed by Professor Vaughan Williams, a specialist in prediction markets and election forecasting, were used to correctly call the winner of every state in the 2004 and 2008 US Presidential elections as well as the 2006 US Senate elections.
He also accurately predicted the winning majority in the 2005 British election, and called the outcome of the 2010 British election more than two weeks before polling day.
The Political Forecasting Unit is involved in the investigation and analysis of all areas of election and political forecasting and employs leading techniques including:
- polling analysis
- betting and prediction market analysis
- panel analysis
- econometric and statistical modelling.
Leighton provided on-going media commentary throughout the British election in 2010, including statistical analysis and a daily poll blog for Channel 4 News.
He can be reached via email on his office number +44 (0)115 848 6150 or his mobile number is available via the university press office, details below.
Press office: contact Helen Breese, Press Officer on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8751 or via email. Alternatively, contact Therese Easom, Press and Internal Communications Manager on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8774 or via email.
Sports Law - Olympics, football bans, doping, cheating
Simon Boyes, senior lecturer at Nottingham Law School, is available to comment on all aspects of sports law, covering topics from bans and complaints in football, to a variety of issues related to the Olympics.
Simon researches and publishes work across a wide range of legal topics related to sport, including but not limited to:
- drugs and doping - including the World Anti-Doping Code
- sports regulation - the internal rules of sports federations, such as those relating to football transfers
- sports arbitration - including matters before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)
- sports disciplinary matters and violence in sport
- cheating in sport
- criminal and civil litigation related to sport
- European Union law as it relates to sport
- legal issues related to commercial and intellectual property rights and broadcasting of sport on TV and radio.
He can also speak on a range of topics relating to the Olympics, including ambush marketing, security issues in relation to the law, and the BOA Olympic ban for athletes who have been found guilty of doping and banned for six months or more, and whether this is lawful or not.
Simon teaches on Nottingham Law School’s Sports Law masters and is the author of the textbook Sports Law. He can be reached directly on his office number: +44 (0)115 848 6528 or via email.
You can also get in touch with Simon through the press office: contact Helen Breese, Press Officer on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8751 or via email. Alternatively, contact Therese Easom, Press and Internal Communications Manager on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8774 or via email.
Phone hacking / Leveson Inquiry – media law expert
Amanda Ball, senior lecturer in media law at Nottingham Trent University's Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism, is available to talk about the legal obligations of the media, the possible implications of the investigation for News International and what it means for the behaviour of other media in the future.
Amanda teaches on both the undergraduate and post-graduate programmes at the University. She is also the principal examiner for the National Council for the Training of Journalists and an advisor to the Association of Police Communicators (APCom). Amanda also recently spoke at a national APCom conference about developments in media law and the challenges posed by social media.
Amanda can be reached through the press office: contact Helen Breese, Press Officer on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8751 or via email. Alternatively, contact Therese Easom, Press and Internal Communications Manager on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8774 or via email.
The Middle East
As the situation in the Middle East evolves, Dr Imad El-Anis, lecturer in International Relations at Nottingham Trent University, is available to comment on the current state of affairs and what might happen next.
Imad has a special interest in the international relations of the Middle East and North Africa and international political economy. He has provided regular media commentary on the situation since it began.
Imad can be reached through the Press Office: contact Helen Breese, Press Officer on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8751 or via email. Alternatively, contact Therese Easom, Press and Internal Communications Manager on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8774 or via email.
Government spending cuts
Professor Malcolm Prowle, an internationally acknowledged expert on the economics, finance and management of the public sector and public services, is available to comment on the ongoing government spending cuts.
Malcolm is Professor of Business Performance at Nottingham Business School and a visiting professor at the Open University Business School. He is available talk about spending cuts, the possible and actual outcomes of the cuts and the likely effects on the public sector and wider society. He can also comment on the drastic actions needed to reduce the budget deficit.
He is a highly experienced consultant and researcher and has worked at the highest levels of government advising on a variety of public policy and policy implementation issues. He has had several periods of secondment to Whitehall departments of state and has been financial adviser to the House of Commons Select Committee, adviser to two shadow ministers and a consultant to the World Health Organisation. He has authored five books on public sector finance and management issues and is currently co-authoring a book with the provisional title of Planning and Managing Public Services in a Time of Austerity.
Malcolm can be reached via email or through the University press office: contact Helen Breese, Press Officer on +44 (0)115 848 8751 or via email. Alternatively, contact Therese Easom, Press and Internal Communications Manager on +44 (0)115 848 8774 or via email. Further information on Malcolm can be found at his blog.
Health and social care finance
With the government trying to push through NHS reforms, health and social care issues are under the spotlight, especially due to the serious economic and public finance challenges faced by the UK.
The Health and Social Care Finance Research Unit (HSCFRU) at Nottingham Business School exists to study the finance and financial management of health and social care services both in the UK and overseas. Members of the team are available to respond to media queries relevant to key health and social care issues areas.
The Unit consists of experts who have academic and professional backgrounds in health and social care finance, or an interest in complementary areas such as health economics and strategy, and a number of distinguished visiting fellows and associates with strong links and experience in the health and social care sectors.
Leading the unit is Professor Malcolm Prowle and Dr Don Harradine. Both have extensive backgrounds in health and social care finance in academic and practical terms. The unit is already is currently undertaking several research projects concerning financial issues in the NHS and social care.
The Unit can be contacted through the Press Office: contact Helen Breese, Press Officer on +44 (0)115 848 8751 or via email. Alternatively, contact Therese Easom, Press and Internal Communications Manager on +44 (0)115 848 8774 or via email.
Automotive industry
With on-going developments in the automotive industry, and more news to come, Professor Baback Yazdani, Dean of Nottingham Business School, is available to comment on industry developments in the UK, US and worldwide.
He has an extensive background in the car industry:
- Between 2003-2006, Professor Yazdani ran the Product Development Operations at Jaguar and Land Rover, part of Ford Motor Company (FMC).
- Between 2000 and 2003 he was the Director of Business and Operations for Lincoln-Mercury in the USA and later Premier Automotive Group in Europe and was one of the main architects of FMC's new Global Product Development System.
- Between 1993 and 2000, he was a Principal Fellow at Warwick University's Manufacturing Group where he led the Innovation and Product Design and Development work.
Professor Yazdani has also worked as the Head of Foundry and Forging plant in Piraiki Orichalkouryia AE in Greece and on automation design and design systems for John Brown Automation.
He is a chartered Mechanical Engineer, has a MSc in Manufacturing Systems Engineering and a PhD in Engineering (Product Development). He is also a Fellow of Institute of Engineering Technology, member of Federation Europeene D'Associations Nationales D'Ingeniers and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
For press enquiries, please contact Helen Breese, Press Officer on +44 (0)115 848 8751 or via email. Alternatively, contact Therese Easom, Press and Internal Communications Manager on +44 (0)115 848 8774 or via email.
