We work regularly and routinely with partners from different national and community organisations and charities, in addition to teachers, children and young people to carry out our research.  Details of the research team based at the University of Edinburgh coordinating these projects can be found here.

Academic Staff

Professor Sarah McGeown.  Sarah is Professor of Literacy (Psychology & Education) in Moray House School of Education and Sport.  Her  research involves working with children, young people, teachers, and third-sector organisations to support children and young people’s literacy experiences and outcomes, and enrich lives through literacy.   Email: s.mcgeown@ed.ac.uk X: @DrSarahMcG

Dr Patrick Errington. Patrick is a Lecturer in Creative Writing and Literature in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures. In addition to being an award-winning poet and literary translator, Patrick is a co-investigator on multiple collaborative, participatory, and interdisciplinary research projects exploring how reading tasks and activities shape reader mindset and literary language processing, and leveraging these insights to promote literacy engagement and mental wellbeing. This research draws together researchers, methods, and theories from literary study, creative practice, education research, psychology, and neuroscience, as well as collaborations with readers and with literature, literacy, and tech organisation partners.

Staff page: https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-patrick-errington

Personal website: https://pjerrington.com/

Dr Dan Mirman.  Dan is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the School of Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences. Dan’s research is on the neural basis of language processing and language impairments, with a particular focus on the neural systems that support comprehension of narratives (stories, books, and films) and on functional communication in people with post-stroke aphasia. He is also interested in the cognitive and neural basis of pleasure responses to metaphors and poetry, including how reading for pleasure may contribute to mental health and wellbeing.

Staff page: https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-daniel-mirman

Lab website: http://www.danmirman.org/

Research Fellow

Dr Charlotte Webber. Charlotte is a Research Fellow at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. Her PhD was a collaborative project with Scottish Book Trust and used participatory approaches to work with young people (13 – 15 years old) to support their reading enjoyment and engagement (funded by ESRC and managed by SGSSS). Charlotte has a particular interest in co-production and co-design with young people, the benefits of volitional reading in adolescence and in neurodiversity and neurodivergence. She is also working on a number of projects at Scottish Book Trust including The Value of Scotland’s Libraries project. You can learn more about her research here: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/literacylab/current-projects/yprp/ Email: c.webber-1@sms.ed.ac.uk X: @charlwebber_ 

PhD researchers

Kawla Alhamad.  Kawla is a Lecturer at the Special Education Department at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University in Saudi Arabia (SA). In August 2017, she completed her graduate degree in Special Education at Seattle University (US). Kawla is current a third year Ph.D. student in Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. Kawla’s project examines The Impact of Augmented Reality (AR) Books on the Reading Enjoyment, Engagement and Comprehension of Struggling Readers. You can learn more about her research here: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/literacylab/current-projects/ar-books/. You can contact her on email: k.alhamad@sms.ed.ac.uk  or X: @alwakn

Elena Santi. Elena is a third year PhD student at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. She has an MA in Children’s Literature and is interested in how literature may support children and young people’s wellbeing and self-development. Her PhD project focuses on understanding the reading experiences of young people (aged 12-14), specifically the extent to which narrative fiction helps them understand more about themselves and others, and aims to create a guide to support reflective literacy practices.  You can learn more about her research here: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/literacylab/current-projects/reading-and-narrative-fiction/. Email: e.santi@sms.ed.ac.uk

Maggie Chan.  Maggie Chan, Fellow of Advance Higher Education, is an Associate Tutor and PhD researcher at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh.

She also works as a support worker for the Disability and Learning Support Service of the university. Prior to her work in the UK, Maggie was a children’s book author and university lecturer in Hong Kong, where she received multiple teaching awards. Her research focuses on disability representation in picturebooks, specifically the nature and use of these books.

Further information on her work can be found at: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/literacylab/current-projects/disabilitypicturebooks/

Ross Young.  Ross is a former primary school teacher and co-founder of The Writing For Pleasure Centre. His books Real-World Writers, Writing for Pleasure, and The Science Of Teaching Primary Writing translate research insights into real-world applications for teachers. Ross is currently an ESRC funded PhD researcher studying the writing lives of children and young people, in collaboration with University of Glasgow and National Literacy Trust. You can learn more about his PhD research here: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/literacylab/the-writing-lives-of-children-and-young-people/

With a huge thanks to Katie McPherson for illustrating all research projects.

You can learn about the research of previous and associate members through the Alumni page.