April 2025 round-up

My over-riding impression of April is that it was a month for new beginnings: interviews started for the agentic AI project; made inroads into two new papers; visited a University that the kiddo is keen to go to; and got started on a personal project that is really important for me.

And, as the nice weather is firmly here, the evening outdoor swims have returned.

Research

The big news, research-wise, was kicking-off the interview-stage for the agentic AI project, as mentioned before. While it’s always exciting to collect data, this project is particularly exciting because of its timeliness. The big challenge, here, is that we have a lot of data to collect and analyse in a very short amount of time. But we are also a great team!

There was also an initial meeting with an international team, regarding a possible European project.

But I confess that I did drop the ball on another project, looking at the use of AI to support emergency call rooms. I am so grateful that I am working with another great team, on that project, who were really understanding and, more importantly, who kept moving along and made such good progress on that one.

Writing

The grant application for a project about tackling online violence against women and girls, and the one to use AI to support learning in schools in economically deprived areas, that I mentioned last month, were submitted. Fingers crossed, we pass to the next stage.

I also wrote and submitted a think piece about the impact of AI in doctoral education, and two extended abstracts for paper development workshops. Moreover, I did some work on a draft for a project about marketing communications. Though the customer insight paper is on-hold, as one of the co-authors does some additional analysis.

Teaching

I wrapped up my MSc and MBA teaching. So, that’s the end of my early morning commutes for a while.

But, before you say that I am now on holidays, let me add that marking season has started. Plus dissertation supervision meetings. And all the other work that an academic needs to do.

Service

I have been doing some analysis of student progression, in the SeNSS doctoral training network. Plus, I reviewed various applications for funding to organise training events.

I also reviewed two journal papers, and had meetings with two researchers considering visiting Sussex University during their sabbaticals.

What did April 2025 have in store for you?