A new year and some new changes

A very Happy New Year to all our listeners: the response from people has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of this project and I would continue to encourage people to keep on sending in suggestions for new episodes.

One of my original intentions with this podcast was to be even-handed and as impartial as possible in what I present to you: I want this referendum to be as informed as possible, because that's the only way we'll get someone of lasting value coming from it.

With that in mind, it's only fair to tell you about my changing circumstances. As of 1 January, I have become a Senior Fellow of the Economic & Social Research Council's "UK in a Changing Europe" programme (full info here).

The programme is intended to show what social science research can bring to public debate about Britain's European relations, as well as conducting some new research. My work will be mainly focused on the campaigning by the different groups, as well as the social media debate.

As you can see, the ESRC programme's objectives are very close to my own, and there is no suggestion that my work has to follow any particular line (beyond being grounded in good research (which it should already be)) or that I should follow any agenda.

This podcast was an important part in my successful application (so thank you all for listening), and we are having some discussions about whether we can make the connection between it and the programme closer. However, nothing's agreed at this stage and when it is, I'll tell you all about it.

So in essence, there's no change in approach or agenda (although I might have more time to do some more work on it all). You, of course, can make your own decisions about this.

You might find this episode a useful way into the subject of whether academics/universities are biased.