Professor scoops senior research council post

A Lancaster University Professor has been appointed director of research at the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Professor Tony McEnery is currently head of the Department of Linguistics and English Language and Professor of English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University. He has worked on collaborative research projects ranging from a new Nepali dictionary to exploring how asylum seekers and refugees are represented in the UK press.

As Director of Research at the AHRC, Professor McEnery will be responsible for the development of the Council’s research and postgraduate strategy and will play a significant role in the management of the AHRC. He will take up the post in September and will be on secondment from the University.

Each year the AHRC provides approximately £80 million to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from archaeology and English literature to design and dance. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,500 postgraduate awards.

Professor McEnery said: “I am overjoyed to be taking up this position. I am a passionate supporter of Arts and Humanities research in all of its forms. The prospect of being director of research at the AHRC at such an important time for the field is a very exciting one indeed.”