معرفی
Professor Catherine Davies is a leading academic at the University of Leeds, holding the position of Professor of Language Development within the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures. She also serves as the inaugural Dean for Research Culture, championing an inclusive, equitable, and open research environment across the university.
Her research focuses on language development, pragmatics, and psycholinguistics, particularly in early childhood. She investigates how children acquire language, with emphasis on reference, inference, and the impact of socioeconomic factors. Since 2020, her work has centered on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on child development, leading major funded projects such as BICYCLE and ICKLE. Her methodological expertise includes eye-tracking, corpus analysis, randomized controlled trials, and longitudinal studies.
Catherine leads the Leeds Child Development Unit, a child-friendly research lab dedicated to studying early language and cognitive development. She actively promotes research-to-practice impact, advising governmental bodies including the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Department for Education, Treasury, No. 10, and the European Commission, as well as third-sector organizations like Nesta and the Education Policy Institute.
She has secured over £5.5 million in research funding since 2020, including grants from UKRI and ESRC, and has produced more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and 50+ international presentations. Her work bridges academia, policy, and practice, with a strong commitment to metascience and improving research culture.
- PhD in Overinformativeness in Referential Communication, University of Cambridge, 2011
- MPhil in English and Applied Linguistics
- BA (Hons) in Linguistics and Phonetics
She supervises PhD students in areas including first language development, pragmatics, language input effects, and research culture. She is also deeply committed to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, recognized through awards and leadership roles such as Athena SWAN and the University’s Woman of Achievement (2021).
Professional Memberships:
- Experimental Psychology Society
- International Association for the Study of Child Language (IASCL)
Scientific Awards and Recognition:
- University of Leeds Woman of Achievement, 2021
- Advisor to the Wellcome Trust (2024–2025)
- Member, N8 Research Culture and Environment Committee
- Pilot PCE Panel Member for REF2029
- Athena SWAN Steering Group Member (2021–2022)
Catherine is an active peer reviewer for over 20 international funding councils, journals, and conferences. She is available for speaking, consulting, and collaboration—contact via c.n.davies@leeds.ac.uk.
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