Newsletter
August 2026
Summer of studies
While the summer months represent an opportunity for gaining valuable work experience or travel for many of our students, for others it remains a period of study. Well done to students on our Applied Psychology, Business Psychology and Sport Psychology MSc programmes who submitted their dissertations recently. Those represent the culmination of months of hard work and dedication, and the final assessment on those programmes! We look forward to sharing the outcomes with you in the weeks ahead.
We also had summer cohorts in Dubai and Malaysia. These students joined their programmes in January, so the summer courses and assessments enable them to progress into their next year from September. We hope your summer studies went well. And also, good luck to our undergraduate and postgraduate students who completed reassessments recently; as you receive the grades for those, keep in contact with your campus teams where support or advice might be needed.
The summer months also represent a productive period for our team, interspersed with leave of course. Our academic and research staff and PhD students have had the opportunity to publish new papers and engage in conference and research meetings, as well as a range of public engagement events. You can read about many of those here as well as the previous newsletters.
And looking ahead to next month, we’re ready to welcome our new and returning students in Dubai, Edinburgh and Malaysia. Enjoy any final holidays you have, and see you in class soon!
For those looking for a flavour of what an MSc might include, you can watch a new video with Greg Fantham from our Dubai campus discussing the MSc Business Psychology here.
In the news
New Associate Principals announced for Education and Student Life
People living with dementia shape national priorities for technology and independence
University of Strathclude: People with dementia shape future technology
Age Scotland: People living with dementia help to shape future of independent living
Building regional connections: Business Psychology in practice
Introducing Our People, Our Stories
Lived experience helps shape the future of dementia research
Latest publications
Our latest publications are listed here, but you can find a full list via the Heriot-Watt Research Portal.
Adam-Troian, J., Bélanger, J. J., Metelkina, O., Vakhitov, V., Vyshniakova, A., & Chayinska, M. (2026). Belief in state propaganda narratives is associated with Russian soldiers’ combat motivation. Military Psychology.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2026.2713799
Adamus, M., Adam‐Troian, J., & Chayinska, M. (2026). Conspiracy Beliefs as a Metacognitive Dimension of Intergroup Attitudes: A Novel Framework for Interventions. European Journal of Social Psychology.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ejsp.70098
Colledge, D., Addington-Lefringhausen, K., Dauber, D. et al. (2026). Harnessing Diversity: Majority-Group Acculturation Predicts Creativity and Flourishing Over Time. European Journal of Social Psychology.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.70106
Crompton*, C. J., Wolfe*, K., Tullo, A. et al. (2026). The impact of perceived human and computer interaction on collaborative learning: insights from the Map Task. Cognitive Processing, 27, 703–718.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-026-01347-3
Research & engagement
Research updates and funding
Dr Kelly Wolfe, Dr Pete McKenna and Professor Thusha Rajendran in our Edinburgh team were awarded funding through the EPSRC’s Vacation Internships scheme to conduct a project on the uncanny valley phenomenon across human development. Jess Farquhar, a second-year Psychology student, was recruited as a Research Assistant and did a great job at researching the topic and making a start on a systematic review. The plan is to continue working together on the review as a team.
Jess was one of a number of undergraduate students supported by research funding schemes over the summer, reported in our April newsletter. We’ll share updates on what the projects achieved in future newsletters.
Kelly also joint first-authored a new paper, “The impact of perceived human and computer interaction on collaborative learning: insights from the Map Task”, with Dr Catherine Crompton from the University of Edinburgh. The work explored how well older adults learn with a perceived human or computer, using a common navigation task. Participants completed the task in two conditions of a Wizard of Oz paradigm: in one, participants believed they were interacting with a human research assistant; in the other, participants believed they were interacting with a computer program. The verbal content was identical in both cases, with the human condition using natural speech and the computer condition using synthetic speech. The researchers found that participants’ long-term memory recall was more accurate when learning with a perceived human partner compared with a computer. It seems that beliefs about agency affects how people remember information as participants reported that they found the human and computer similarly easy to understand but said that learning with the computer was more difficult. They also reported lower confidence in their learning performance in the computer condition. The study’s findings may inform how voice-based learning systems are introduced to older end-users, and strategies for negotiating agency between the human user and the voice-based system. The full paper is available here.
Research in action
In this section, we share updates from our researchers including their work in progress, studies looking for volunteers, summaries of new papers and more. Details about our research themes and ongoing work can also be found on the Psychology research website. This month we hear from David Colledge, a PhD Student in our Edinburgh team. David recently had the first study from his PhD published. The paper is available here and you can read David’s summary of the research below.
David Colledge
“The literature on cognitive multiculturalism suggests that constructive intercultural engagement can promote cognitive broadening: this includes more flexible and creative thinking, and a deeper reflection on one’s identity and social relations. Given the increasingly multicultural character of 21st-century campuses, our studies explored how home university students adopting minority-cultural elements from international students relates to aspects of their creativity and psychological flourishing. We tested links across student groups in the UK and China, plus an English longitudinal sample. Adopting other cultures while keeping one’s own (i.e., integration) predicted higher cognitive flexibility, a stronger sense of meaning in life, and better social relationships. Results held over time, with cultural adoption predicting improved outcomes at later timepoints rather than vice-versa. The findings support cognitive multiculturalism theory while extending it to an understudied context (i.e., the university). They also suggest that HE internationalisation agendas and priorities around fostering creative, flourishing students are interconnected, providing empirical support for ongoing internationalisation strategies and the promotion of global citizenship.”
Conferences and outreach
Our Psychology Research Seminars and events run in a variety of modes: in-person, online and hybrid. Events in the coming weeks are listed below, with fuller details available on our events page. Check the details to see if you can join the event on your campus or online.
The summer months are often a particularly busy time for events though it’s not all conferences! With Edinburgh hosting various festivals throughout August, there were plenty of opportunities for Psychology to take centre stage. Dr Mhairi Bowe appeared twice in Comedy for the Curious. The events were hosted by Robyn Perkins, with each night including a different comedian alongside Mhairi’s academic rigour. Both events Mhairi participated in proved popular, with packed rooms and lots of questions (and laughter)!
Meanwhile Professor Alan Gow appeared twice in The Provocateurs programme. Each show included two researchers sharing their work, with a professional stand-up acting as MC. Alan encouraged his audiences to play “Brain health roulette”, as they spun the wheel to determine what might help or harm their brains with age. The Provocateurs is curated by the University of Edinburgh in collaboration with the Stand Comedy Club and the call for contributors to the 2027 programme will come round later this year. Anyone at Heriot-Watt can get support from HW Engage for public engagement activities throughout the year too.
Mhairi has one final Fringe appearance before the end of the month. If you’re in Edinburgh, join her as she poses the question “Do we really need other people?” for Skeptics On The Fringe (25 August, more details here).
The team regularly present at national and international conferences and at a range of public engagement events. A selection of the most recent include:
Bowe, M. (2026). Who makes breast, best? The role of social groups in breastfeeding success and maternal mental health. Paper presented at 7th International Conference on Social Identity and Health, University of Exeter, UK, June.
Learning and teaching
Dr Gary Pheiffer from our Dubai team recently returned from another visit to Saudi Arabia, continuing a relationship with stc Group that has developed over the past three years and demonstrates how professional practice can directly inform teaching and research in Business Psychology at Heriot-Watt University Dubai.
stc is one of the Middle East’s leading telecommunications and digital organisations and a major contributor to Saudi Arabia’s rapidly developing digital economy. Operating in a fast-changing technological and organisational environment, it provides a valuable context in which to apply business psychology to contemporary organisational challenges.
Through regular visits to Saudi Arabia, Gary has worked with colleagues at stc on areas including leadership development, organisational culture change and the development of internal consultancy capability. A particular focus has been supporting technical and professional staff to strengthen their consultancy, problem-solving and decision-making skills—helping specialists use their expertise to diagnose organisational issues, engage stakeholders, evaluate evidence and develop practical recommendations.
Importantly, the relationship is not separate from Gary’s academic work. It connects directly with the MSc Business Psychology at Heriot-Watt University Dubai, where students study leadership, organisational change, consulting, decision-making, organisational behaviour and the application of psychological evidence to workplace challenges. Gary noted, “One of the most valuable aspects of this work is what we bring back into the classroom. Our students are not only learning theories and models; we can discuss real organisational situations, the complexities of working with stakeholders and the practical challenges of trying to create change in a major organisation.”
This connection between practice and teaching means that real-life consulting experiences can become part of the students’ learning environment. Current organisational challenges provide cases and examples through which students can examine how psychological theory operates when problems are ambiguous, evidence is incomplete, stakeholders have different perspectives and solutions have to work within the realities of an organisation.
The work also complements the Business Psychology team’s growing programme of research across the Middle East, including projects examining gender, identity, work and organisational change in the region. Engagement with organisations across Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf provides important contextual understanding of how leadership, culture and identity are experienced within rapidly changing workplaces.
This creates a productive relationship between research, teaching and professional practice. Research informs how organisational issues are understood; professional practice provides exposure to contemporary organisational challenges; and these experiences are brought back into teaching to enrich students’ understanding of business psychology in practice.
For students, there is another important benefit. Seeing their lecturers working with major regional organisations demonstrates that the knowledge and skills developed through the MSc have direct application beyond the university. Gary added, “For me, this is where the relationship becomes particularly important. We want our students to see that the consulting, leadership and organisational psychology skills they are developing are the same kinds of skills being applied with organisations across the region. It gives us current examples to bring into our teaching and helps students connect what happens in the classroom with the professional world they are preparing to enter.”
The continuing relationship with stc therefore represents more than an external engagement. It strengthens Heriot-Watt’s connections with organisations in the region, contributes to ongoing professional practice and research, and, most importantly, brings contemporary organisational experience directly back into the student learning experience.
Student voice
In “Student voice”, we hear from our students. Every contribution is different, so if you have something you’d like to share in a future newsletter, get in touch. This month we hear from the new Student Union President in Edinburgh, Mo Ali Khazali, who recently completed his 3rd year in Psychology with Marketing.
Contributor: Mo Ali Khazali (BSc Psychology with Marketing)
As our new Student Union officers get ready to start their roles in June, it’s the perfect opportunity for our staff and students to learn a little bit more about the new Student Union President, Mo Ali Khazali.
What programme are you are studying/graduating from?
I’ve just completed my third year of studying Psychology with Marketing.
What’s your favourite place on campus?
My favourite place on campus would have to be the prayer room we have on campus, right under the Hugh Nisbet building. From the moment I got to Heriot-Watt, I found it to be a calm and peaceful location for mediation and prayer, supported by a one of a kind community!
What’s your favourite University memory?
Throughout these years I’ve made plenty of great memories, but to this day, my favourite memory would have to be when I first became a Freshers Rep. I had to come to University via late enrolment, so I missed out on my own Freshers week experience, so being a rep allowed me to get a glimpse of what Freshers week is like, and it’s what led to me work at the Union and then eventually, run for Student President.
Do you have any hobbies or interests?
If I’m not working or socialising with my friends, you can most likely find me on a basketball court, or on my laptop working on new songs!
What are you excited about for the upcoming year?
The thing I’m looking forward to most next year is being the voice of all Heriot-Watt students. I can’t wait to begin my role as Student President and hopefully create real meaningful change to make student life just a little bit easier.
In memory
Our community was saddened to hear of the death of Dr Calum Marr this month, having been diagnosed with leukaemia in early 2025. Calum was a PhD Student within the Ageing Lab, graduating in 2022. He was an exceptional researcher, exemplified by passing his PhD viva with no corrections. He was also a kind and generous person and positively influenced everyone he worked with. The Ageing Lab team were able to join his family, friends and colleagues at a Celebration of Life at the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. The celebration was a moving tribute to Calum who will be sadly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him.
The Department of Psychology is part of the School of Business, Design & Social Sciences (BDSS) at Heriot-Watt University, with campuses in the UK, Dubai and Malaysia. Our research is is grouped by three main themes: Cognition, Brain and Behaviour; Lifespan Health and Wellbeing; and Work, Society and Environment. Find out more at https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/our-schools/social-sciences/psychology and https://psychresearch.site.hw.ac.uk or follow updates on our social media channels.
