August was definitely better than the last couple of months: we put our things into storage and headed to Portugal, while the “new” house was being redecorated. There were a few niggles with the move into the new house, but most boxes are now empty, and life is slowly returning to normal.
Research
The main activity on the research front has been the wrapping up of the project on “The Role of Consumers in Driving Innovation in UK Manufacturing”, funded by Interact. This was formalised in a writing retreat where we worked on some outputs and made plans for continuing to develop this work.
On a less pleasant note, I had to let some partners know that we had not secured funding for another really cool project that we had developed.
Writing
The report “Digital disengagement and impacts on exclusion”, by UK Parliament POST, was published. I had been interviewed for the report, as an expert on non-economic drivers of digital disengagement and its consequences.
I worked on two paper revisions, and started work on another paper. But the deadline for the latter was extended, so I ended up parking it, and focusing on other things.
At the writing retreat to close the “The Role of Consumers in Driving Innovation in UK Manufacturing” project, we worked on a dissemination report, the closing report for the funder, and set-up two papers with our findings.
Teaching
I continued to supervise the two student projects related to the use of generative AI for sentiment analysis, which involved weekly meetings (Mondays at 9 am). But that has now come to a close.
Then, I marked resits for the two modules that I taught in the past academic year, and moderated the resists for other two modules
Finally, I had a couple of meetings about the new module that I will be teaching this year.
Service
I reviewed various policy documents for SeNSS, as well as a paper for a journal.
So, overall, it was a good month.
How was your August?
Ana Canhoto 
I’m glad to hear that your housing situation has resolved itself at last. I would have loved to have spent a few weeks in Portugal, but there was too much to do back in the UK. Like you, August meant moving into a new house, so a lot of stress, but also pleasure in the new surroundings. Hope September goes well for you: I always found that the cycle of academic life was a bit like farming: you plough, sow, nurture, harvest and then start again.
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Yes, the housing situation had a good ending. Thank you for the encouragement and advice. Glad to hear you are enjoying the new surroundings. Let’s enjoy the new beginnings.
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