We are glad to announce that the 17th annual one day conference on Economics and Psychology will be held on Wednesday, December 11th, 2024 in person at the Economic and Social Research Institute. Details of the 16 previous workshops are available here https://bsp.ucd.ie/annual-economics-and-psychology-conferences/

The purpose of the conference is to develop the links between Economics, Psychology, and cognate disciplines throughout Ireland. A special theme of these events is the implications of behavioural science for public policy. To facilitate a large number of presentations and sufficient time for chats during the breaks, each presentation will be short, with each speaker being provided 20 minutes for their presentation including Q+A. Lunch and coffees will be provided to speakers and attendees.

If you would like to present, please submit your abstract to the following link before Tuesday November 5th at 5pm. We will notify people about their acceptance on Friday 8th November. Presentations will be in person but we will facilitate online audience attendance.

https://lse.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3I42JKab5tv3qFE

If you would like to attend but not present, please also use this link and leave the answers on paper and abstract blank.

 

Background

Members of the IBSPN may interested in the Annual Irish Economics and Psychology Conference. Since 2008 there has been an annual conference organised for those working at the interface of economics, psychology and other related areas. Speakers have included international thought-leaders such as David Laibson, David Halpern, Robert Sugden, Arie Kapteyn, Ruth Byrne and John O’Doherty.

 

 

‘It ain’t (just) what you do, it’s the way that you do it’: The importance of coproduction and partnership in developing evidence-based practice and policy (11th June 2024)

On the 11th of June 2024, a seminar was held in Dublin city centre that explored the significance of coproduction and partnership in creating evidence-informed practice and policy. The event was based on two research projects funded through the Health Research Board’s Applied Partnership Awards, which facilitate collaboration between knowledge users and researchers to address specific needs within Ireland’s health and social care system.

Prof. Molly Byrne from the University of Galway presented her work on enhancing the implementation of Making Every Contact Count (MECC) by developing a collaborative strategy aimed at optimising and scaling up MECC. Prof. Sara Burke from Trinity College Dublin discussed her research on the foundational elements of health systems for effective Regional Integrated Care Organisations (RICOs). She highlighted the importance of co-producing evidence to inform the design of regional structures supporting integrated care.

The session included a broader discussion on the challenges and benefits of using coproduction and partnership approaches in health research. Attendees engaged in an insightful exchange of ideas, reflecting on how these methodologies can shape the future of health and social care in Ireland.

We aim to have three to four seminars each year, in the New Year, after Easter, and after the summer. Each seminar is structured around a collection of short talks, where each speaker describes briefly work (thinking about, ongoing or completed), followed by questions, potential suggestions for collaboration between members, and a group discussion on the collection of talks.

To encourage participation seminars are relatively short (e.g. 60 minutes), held during “office hours”, and where possible facilitate hybrid participation.

Previous speakers have included Professor Peter John from UCL speaking on his new book “The Limits of Nudging”, Professor Glenn Harrison from Georgia State University who spook about economics and preference analysis, and Professor Til Grune-Yanoff, one of the leading thinkers on the application of behavioural science in public policy, who discussed the application of behavioural insights in practice in a policy setting.

You can also watch previous seminar presentations below from Professor Cass Sunstein on new directions for behaviourally informed policy, and Professor Dilip Soman’s discussion on towards a framework for behaviour change.

The purpose of Irish Behavioural Science and Policy Network (IBSPN) is to bring together the thinkers and doers of behavioural science in Ireland. We want members of the network to share, discuss and debate how behavioural insights can and should be applied in the business, academic and public policy domains in Ireland.

Below are the members of IBSPN organising committee:

• Molly Byrne, University of Galway
• Liam Delaney, The London School of Economics and Political Science
• Seán Gill, S3 Connected Health
• Emma Howard, TU Dublin
• Leo Lades, University Colleague Dublin
• Aileen McGloin, safefood
• Orla Muldoon, University of Limerick
• Robert Murphy, Department of Health (Chair)
• Desmond O’Mahony, Environmental Protection Agency
• Diane Pelly, Trinity College Dublin
• Deirdre Robertson, Economic and Social Research Institute

Prof Molly Byrne, Prof of Health Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Galway

Molly is a Professor of Health Psychology and she directs the Health Behaviour Change Research Group (HBCRG). This Group is a national hub and internationally-recognised centre of excellence in the application of behavioural science to health behavioural intervention development, evaluation and implementation. Molly’s research aims to improve population health by working with key stakeholders to develop and promote an evidence-based behavioural science approach to health behaviour change interventions. She is particularly interested in chronic disease prevention and management, and directs the Collaborative Doctoral Programme in Chronic Disease Prevention (CDP-CDP), as well as the Masters Programme in Health Psychology. Molly has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers and her research has been widely cited. Molly is an Honorary Fellow of the European Health Psychology Society and the (Irish) National Institute for Prevention and Cardiovascular Health (NIPC). She is Associate Editor of Annals of Behavioral Medicine and a member of the Executive Committee of the International Behavioural Trials Network, the Executive Committee of the Health Research Board (HRB) Primary Care Clinical Trials Network Ireland and the Executive Committee of the HRB Diabetes Collaborative Clinical Trials Network.

Psychology – University of Galway

Prof Liam Delaney, Head of Department, The London School of Economics and Political Science

Liam Delaney is Professor and Head of the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at LSE. His career has been focused at the intersection of economics, psychology, and public policy applications and he has developed a number of programmes in this area. From 2017 to 2020 he was Professor of Economics at University College Dublin, where he led the development of MSc in Behavioural Economics and Geary Institute Experimental Lab. Prior to this, he led the development of the Stirling Behavioural Science entre and developed one of Europe’s first dedicated graduate programmes in this area. He was a Fulbright Fellow at Princeton University, and visiting fellow at the University of Sydney, and has also been an MSCA fellow. He has published several papers on the connection between mental health and economic outcomes, measuring economic preferences, and ethical aspects of behavioural policy in journals. He is developing research projects across three areas: the ethical foundations and trustworthiness of behavioural public policy, mental health and economic policy, and the measurement foundations of behavioural welfare economics. He has delivered executive education and provided advice on behavioural science topics to dozens of organisations across the public and private sector.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamdelaney2016/?originalSubdomain=uk

Seán Gill, Director of Behavioural Science & Product at S3 Connected Health

Seán is Director of Behavioural Science & Product at S3 Connected Health, applying a behavioural and evidence-based lens to healthcare challenges. He is driven by why we do what we do, and how we can leverage the science of human behaviour to design products and solutions that enable patients and healthcare teams to live healthier, happier and longer lives. He established the first behavioural team at S3 Connected Health and created and codified a process for tackling behavioural challenges called the Behaviour Change Compass framework. This builds upon many different frameworks including: COM-B, TDF, B=MAT, EAST, MINDSPACE, design thinking, jobs to be done, etc. Previously, he was the Chief Product Officer of First Circle in the Philippines, where he applied a behavioural lens to SME financing and incorporated behaviour insights across the business. Seán was a behavioural researcher at Warwick Business School in the UK and the Centre for Behavioural Science in Stirling University in Scotland, where he specialized in improving decision making in healthcare. Seán’s passion for behavioural science in healthcare was triggered by the diagnosis of a chronic condition over a decade ago and the need to change every aspect of his life to manage effectively.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gillSeán/?originalSubdomain=ie

Dr Emma Howard, Economist and Lecturer, TU Dublin

Emma Howard is an Economist and Lecturer at TU Dublin and Chair of the Irish Society for Women in Economics (ISWE). She is an external member of the UCD Behavioural Science and Policy Group (BSP) and is on the External Advisory Group for the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGESS). Her research interests include Behavioural Economics, Environmental Economics, Health Economics, and Development Economics. Prior to working in TU Dublin, she was an Economics Fellow at the University of Oxford and Mansfield College. She holds a PhD, MSc and BA in Economics from Trinity College Dublin.

https://howardemma.wordpress.com/

 

Dr Leonhard K. Lades, Assistant Professor in Environmental Policy, University College Dublin
Leo leads the Behavioural Science & Policy Group at the UCD Geary Institute, he is an Assistant Professor in Environmental Policy in UCD, he is the Programme Director of the UCD MSc in Environmental Policy, and he is the Treasurer of the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology. His research lies at the intersection of behavioural science and environmental policy. His areas of expertise are economic psychology, behavioural public policy, and behavioural economics. He is interested in fostering ethical applications of behavioural insights, the identification and the removal of sludge, non-standard economic preferences, and the use of the day reconstruction method. Prior to starting at UCD, he was an EPA Senior Research Fellow in Behavioural Economics at EnvEcon and a Lecturer (with tenure) in Economics and an Early Career Fellow in Behavioural Science at the University of Stirling. He received his PhD in Economics from the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena where he was a member of the Evolutionary Economics Group at the Max Planck Institute of Economics.
https://sites.google.com/site/leonhardklades/home

Dr Aileen McGloin, Director of Nutrition, safefood

Aileen leads the nutrition team at safefood, working in many areas, from policy development, to managing research, community programmes and promoting and supporting behavioural change. Her role focuses on addressing key public health nutrition issues such as obesity prevention and food poverty. Prior to that, Dr McGloin was safefood’s Director of Communication, combining her background in food, health and behaviour change with experience in PR, marketing and digital communications. Aileen holds a 1st Class honours degree in Human Nutrition from the University of Ulster and a PhD in obesity in children. She has 20 years of experience working in research, management and health communication roles across the food industry, public relations, academia and public service.

https://www.safefood.net/our-organisation

Prof Orla Muldoon, Founding Professor of Psychology, Director Centre for Social Issues Research,

University of Limerick

Orla is a social psychologist which means that she is interested in how social contexts and in particular social systems and structures can shape behaviour, attitudes and health. In the USA and elsewhere this is often called political psychology as many of our systems and structures are shaped by power, status and cultural forces. These same forces are often not interrogated because they are assumed, acceptable to wider society. Social psychology – allows us to interrogate these processes and lay them bare. in so doing we can understand them and attempt to improve on systems that may inadvertently harm ourselves and others. Orla holds a 1st Class honours degree in Psychology and a PhD in Psychology from the Queens University of Belfast.  She was appointed as a full professor of Psychology at UL in 2007, a recipient of a prestigious European Research Council Advanced grant in 2020 and elected to membership of the Royal Irish Academy in 2022.

Prof. Orla Muldoon

Dr Robert Murphy, Senior Economics Research Officer, Department of Health

Robert is a health and behavioural economist dedicated to improving organisational and individual outcomes. He has more than 20 years of experience of designing and leading applied research. In the Department of Health Robert is the behavioural research lead, undertaking and designing research on behaviour change priorities. He is Ireland’s WHO national focal point for Behavioural and Cultural Insights (BCI). He designed a service to support more effective use of research evidence in the Department of Health. Robert co-founded the national Better Letter Initiative (BLI) to improve patient engagement, the DH / ESRI Research Programme in Healthcare Reform, and the DH / HRB Evidence Synthesis. Prior to this Robert was the Head of Research in the Children Acts Advisory Board where he led a significant programme of research of over two-years (7 research reports, 3 databases, good practice guidance). Before joining the public sector Robert worked in consultancy – lead on 50 research projects – and recently worked as a Senior Consultant to the WHO on BCI. Robert has a BA in Economics from Trinity College Dublin, a MSc in Economics from University of Bristol, and a PhD from the Behavioural Science Centre, University Stirling. Robert has published in leading international journals in economics and psychology such as Value in Healthand Health Psychology.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-murphy-6b9a6331/?originalSubdomain=ie

Dr Desmond O’Mahony, Scientific Officer, Climate Services Division, Office Of Evidence and Assessment, Environmental Protection Agency

Des is a Scientific Officer in the behavioural research unit in the Office of Evidence and Assessment at the Environmental Protection Agency. Des leads the EPA’s Climate Change in the Irish Mind project (CCIM). His role also involves coordinating and promoting behavioural research connected to CCIM, the EPA Research Program, and the National Dialogue on Climate Action. Des holds a BSc. in Applied Psychology from UCC, a Higher Diploma in Applied Behavioural Analysis from NUIG and an MSc. in Applied Psychology from TCD where he also completed his PhD on the role of anxiety in technology use. He has experience working in the special needs and special education fields. More recently Des worked as a research analyst on the Growing Up in Ireland project at the ESRI.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/desmond-o-mahony-4939bb19/?originalSubdomain=ie

Dr Diane Pelly, Assistant Professor of Applied Behavioural Science, Trinity College Dublin

Diane is an Economist and Assistant Professor of Applied Behavioural Science at Trinity College Dublin. Her specialist areas include Behavioural and Happiness / Well-being Economics and executive education and training. She designed, and currently teaches, a CPD module in Applied Behavioural Science to working professionals. Her research interests include worker well-being and performance, remote working, health, and field experiments. Diane holds a BComm International (German) and a PhD in Economics from University College Dublin, a BSc Psychology from The Open University and an MPhil in Financial Economics from The University of Cambridge.  In addition to her current role in academia, Diane has almost 30 years private sector experience. Prior to joining TCD she worked in the fields of corporate finance, banking and debt restructuring for Citigroup, Centre Reinsurance and Zurich Group. She is a director of the investor relations firm Geelon & Co. where she specialises in teaching organisations how to deploy behavioural science techniques to enhance decision-making and performance.

Dr Diane Pelly | LinkedIn

Dr Deirdre Robertson, Senior Research Officer, Behavioural Research Unit, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)

Deirdre carries out research to inform public policy in the areas of health, financial decision-making and the environment. Her recent work has involved laboratory experiments, online experiments and field trials on food choice, physical activity, antibiotic usage, perceptions of ageing and vaccination intentions. Deirdre holds a BA and a PhD from Trinity College Dublin, a PG Diploma in Statistics also from Trinity College Dublin and an MSc from the University of Sussex. Prior to joining the ESRI, Deirdre was a postdoctoral researcher in Columbia University and an Irish Research Council postdoctoral fellow in Trinity College Dublin.

https://www.esri.ie/people/deirdre-robertson