Research in education explored at annual conference

The 2025 Annual Conference of the Liverpool Institute for Research in Education (LIFE Institute) took place on Monday 14 July with external partners and academic and professional services staff from across LJMU in attendance.

With a record 120 registered participants, the event included keynote addresses by Dr Marlon Moncrieffe, President of the British Educational Research Association (BERA), and Dr Paul Ashwin, Professor of Higher Education at Lancaster University. Dr Moncrieffe discussed the importance of championing decolonial practice in our teaching, learning and research, while Professor Ashwin deconstructed current approaches underpinning research impact, arguing for an approach based on integrity and shared responsibility.

Demonstrating the wide reach and vibrant research environment of the LIFE Institute, the programme included thirty additional presentations from staff from the schools of Education, Art and Design, Humanities and Social Science, Sport and Exercise Science, Nursing and Advanced Practice, Business, Biomedical Sciences, Civil Engineering, Law and Justice Studies, and Biological and Environmental Sciences, as well as Library and Employability Services.

From Liverpool to the world

Current membership of the Institute consists of over 200 academic staff and postgraduate research members, representing 14 different schools across LJMU.

LIFE works with a range of external organisations regionally and nationally, including the University Centre at Blackpool College, Mersey Forest, and Everton in the Community, and members conduct work internationally in many countries, from Ghana to Nepal, Bangladesh and China.

Breadth and depth of educational research

Building on our recent annual conferences in the Maritime Museum and Liverpool National Museum, this year’s event on the LJMU campus yet again demonstrated the breadth and depth of our educational research, that reaches all parts of LJMU and beyond.

Professor Michael Thomas, Head of the LIFE Institute 

Professor Thomas added: “It was clear from the day’s agenda that we continue to make bold steps towards our mission of delivering impactful research and knowledge exchange that makes a difference to people’s lives, particularly in the Liverpool City Region. The work of our research groups underlines how ‘inspiration leads to aspiration’ and our work on widening participation and social justice aims to inform and lead discussion on education research and policy.”

Annual awards

The event included the institute’s annual award presentations in six categories. For the first time, this included the new category of professional services support, to recognise the important role professional service staff provide to the Institute’s academics and PGR students. This year’s winners were:

• Professional Services Support Award: Emily Walker-Williams
• Research & Knowledge Exchange Award: Martin Kerridge
• Early Career Researcher Award: Dr Ais Culshaw
• PGR Student Award: Vicky Ellingham
• Promotion of EDI Award: Dr Catherine Wilkinson
• PGR Supervision and Mentoring Award: Dr Diahann Gallard

LJMU staff encouraged to work with the institute

Based in the School of Education, the LIFE Research Institute offers a wide range of researcher development activities and events each academic year, from writing retreats to REF workshops and mentoring. It has seven research groups and encourages all staff from across the university to engage in collaboration on pedagogical and educational research across these interdisciplinary areas:

• Digital Education and Society
• Educational Psychology
• Nature-Related Pedagogies
• (Post)qualitative Research in Education
• Sustainability and Social Justice
• Teacher Education and Development
• The Absolute Chemistry Research Group

The LIFE Institute also has a wide range of school and further education partnerships and is urging staff around the university to consider how the institute can support the dissemination and impact of their research and knowledge exchange activities.

LIFE also works closely with the Centre for Educational Leadership and has a thriving Doctor of Education (EdD) programme, offering the potential for staff from across the university to acquire supervisory experience at the doctoral level.

LIFE makes regular announcements about its activities and collaborative opportunities via its dedicated Microsoft Teams site which is accessible by members. The date of next year’s annual conference will be 13 July 2026.

Get in touch

For enquiries about joining or collaborating with the LIFE Institute, please email Professor Michael Thomas.