My January 2026 residency at Loughborough University’s Institute of Advanced Studies enabled me to finally meet in person with Professor Ksenia Chmutina! We had been familiar with each other’s work on disasters for some many years and had spoken many times, but the IAS fellowship provided the ideal setting to sit down together properly. Over the course of my stay, we were able to discuss our ideas about disasters and creative methodologies. These discussions have now progressed to the point where we are developing a joint grant proposal on the topic.

Alongside this I had the opportunity to run a workshop for postgraduate researchers on turning academic research into comics. The session drew a small but engaged group from various disciplines, and focused on the practical aspects of adapting complex ideas into visual narratives. This workshop fed into a broader event Ksenia organised for the Journal of Disaster Studies, which brought together storytelling and comics researchers Karen Sung, Oliver Hooper, and Richard Johnson – it was an absolute pleasure to learn about their practices. The event provided a useful forum for discussing the specific challenges and possibilities of using comics in research, and it was fantastic to be part of the conversation.

The residency also gave me the space to present my paper on worldmaking and the global climate order for the first time. It’s always a little nerve wracking to present an idea for the first time, but the IAS was the perfect space to do so and to receive some really constructive feedback.

Beyond these activities, the fellowship allowed me to connect with several other scholars at Loughborough whose research intersects with my own interests and we’re now in the early stages of discussing a potential joint project. Last but not least, the IAS team were absolutely incredible throughout, making me feel very welcome at every turn. And the flat that I was provided with on campus was a little oasis on campus. For anybody thinking about applying to be an IAS fellow I would definitely recommend it.

Dr Gemma Sou