Profile

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Andrew McNeill

My CV

  • Education:

    Primary: Londonderry Primary school, Newtownards, Northern Ireland /
    Secondary: Regent House School, Newtownards, Northern Ireland
    / University: Queen’s University Belfast (BSc and PhD)

  • Qualifications:

    GCSEs, 3 A-Levels (Computing, English and Physics), BSc (Hons) Psychology, and PhD Psychology.

  • Work History:

    After my PhD in 2013 I came to Northumbria University where I have worked for the 7 years or so. About 6 of those years were doing research for someone else (called a post-doctoral researcher) and the past year and a half I’ve been a lecturer.

  • Current Job:

    Lecturer in Psychology at Northumbria University, Newcastle

  • About Me:

    I’m a social psychologist who studies conflict between groups and how we can reduce it. I teach social psychology (the study of how we are influenced by and influence each other).

  • Read more

    I’m a social psychologist who is fascinated by the effects that we have on each other’s behaviour and thinking. I teach social psychology and study how groups can reduce conflict between them. Originally I’m from Northern Ireland but currently live in the North-East of England. I’m married and have two little boys (aged 4 and 1) – so a lot of my time is spent with them. My boys love reading Mr Men so I spend a lot of time reading to them before bedtime. At weekends I love nothing better than to go for walks with them and enjoy the English countryside together. I’m also a Christian and this colours everything I do.

  • Read more

    I work at Northumbria University where my time is divided between teaching students and doing research. My teaching is mostly about helping students learn to do their own research as well as telling them about how we influence each other (social psychology). One of the fascinating studies I love to teach students about is one where people were told to give electric shocks to another person if they got some answers wrong. The people who were asked to give the electric shocks didn’t realise that it was just a trick and the other person wasn’t really getting electric shocks. The surprising thing was that lots of people pressed the button to give really dangerous electric shocks because the scientist told them to. I get the students to think about why people did this.

    In my research I talk to people who have been involved in wars and conflicts. I ask them about how they feel about this and what they want to happen after the fighting is over. I also do work where I try to find out why people don’t like each other for other reasons (like their accents).

  • My Typical Day:

    In a normal day I get up early and arrive to work early to get ready for teaching. I then tell students important things about why we like and dislike each other. Then I do writing, reading, and careful study of things that will help me understand more about this.

  • Read more

    In a normal day I arrive at work by half past seven. Then I get ready to teach by reminding myself of what I plan to say. After a few hours of teaching I spend the day writing to co-workers in different parts of the world about my research. I also analyse numbers from questionnaires and people’s stories from interviews to try to understand why people dislike each other and how they can work together better. I’ll then spend some time writing my thoughts down.

  • What I'd do with the prize money:

    I would love to give my money to a group called “Remembering Srebrenica” who work with schools to tell students about bad things that people have done to others so that they don’t happen again. I would help them tell students about why we do these bad things and what we can do to stop it.

  • My Interview

    • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

      Thoughtful, opinionated, skeptical!

      What did you want to be after you left school?

      A medical doctor

      Were you ever in trouble at school?

      Yes. I nearly got expelled (long story!) :/

      Who is your favourite singer or band?

      I love the music of Ludovico Einaudi

      What's your favourite food?

      Chicken korma is good!

      If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

      Live in Northern Ireland again (!), make a real change with my work, and see my children grow old and happy.

      Tell us a joke.

      My son tells me this one... Knock knock! - Who's there? - Europe - Europe who? - No, you're a poo!

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