University of Southampton
The University of Southampton is one of the UK’s top ten research intensive Universities receiving over £93.6M in research grants and contracts in 2010/11, including over £11.3M from the European Commission. Southampton has a strong track record of working in European projects, especially within the Framework Programme. It is ranked 17th out of all higher and secondary education organisations for number of FP7 participations during 2007-2010, and is involved in 236 FP7 projects (201 ongoing and 35 in negotiation with the Commission). The University of Southampton has a dedicated FP7 Office providing finance, contractual and research administration support. Southampton is one of only 3 HE’s in the United Kingdom to be awarded a Financial Certificate of Methodology from the European Commission.
The Faculty of Social and Human Sciences consists of 3,610 undergraduate; 1,240 taught and 410 research postgraduate students. It has 380 academic and 120 other staff. Its academics are world-leading researchers in key subjects such as ageing/gerontology, economics, politics and international relations, social statistics and demography, social work, and sociology, social policy and applied social sciences. Research in the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences received excellent ratings in the latest research assessment exercise (RAE 2008). More than 50 per cent of its research was judged to be either “world-leading” or “internationally excellent”, with the group including ageing/gerontology, demography and social policy being ranked 3rd in the UK
Key personnel involved in the project
Professor Asghar Zaidi – WP leader of Active and healthy ageing as an asset; one of the lead researchers in Extending working lives and also a member of the MOPACT Steering Committee (MSC).
Main tasks attributed to them in the project
Southampton will lead Active and healthy ageing as an asset and will also contribute to Extending working lives. More concretely under Active and healthy ageing as an asset,
Southampton is the leader of Task 2 (Reviewing empirical evidence) and Task 4 (Mapping scenarios of active ageing). Regarding Extending working lives, he will contribute in Task 1, 2, 3, and 4. WP10 refers to Dissemination and Knowledge transfer and Southampton will contribute to this WP throughout the project duration. WP11 refers to Management and Southampton will contribute throughout the project duration.
Short profile of all personnel and previous relevant experience
Asghar Zaidi is Professor of International Social Policy in the Centre for Research on Ageing in the School of Social Sciences of University of Southampton (UK). He is also Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE, London. His research interests include economics of ageing (particularly impact of pension reforms on adequacy of retirement incomes), employment of older workers, and living standards and poverty of older people and people with disabilities.
During 2012, Asghar was the project coordinator at the European Centre Vienna (EUROPEAN CENTRE) in the European Commission’s / UNECE joint project ‘Active Ageing Index’, which will be followed up together with EUROPEAN CENTRE in WP1. He has various published books, chapters and articles on ageing, pensions and health in Europe; most recent being the one of well-being of older people in ageing societies and also (forthcoming) on poverty among older people in European countries.