PhD - Evacuation and Safety in Emergencies

I almost can’t believe it, but I have been accepted into the ambitious and competitive PhD program in Social Psychology at University of Edinburgh as they have accepted my proposal of researching evacuation behaviour and safety in emergency situations.

This project is going to last three years and will research how, when and why strangers come together in groups in these dangerous situations, and will investigate concepts of prosocial behaviour, (parochial) altruism, group formation, and collective identity.

I am incredibly proud to have been offered this opportunity, and I am impatiently waiting to embark on my journey to research this important topic which has the potential to help a lot of people around the world in the future. However, as a self-funded student I have a lot of expenses to cover; tuition fees, running costs of empirical studies, participant compensation, and conference visits among others. 

Any donations, no matter how small, are welcomed with immense gratitude. All funds donated to the project will be used to cover tuition fees and research costs for the duration of the PhD.

If you’re curious to know more about the details of my project – or if you would like to participate in the prize draw for incredible artworks donated to this fundraising – please continue reading.

Introduction to the research project:

The Station nightclub fire in 2003, the London bombings in 2005, the Kerala Floods last year, and the attacks in Christchurch and Sri Lanka this year. These tragic events are just a few examples of recent disasters which have one thing in common: large amounts of victims crowded together in small spaces, needing fast and safe evacuation.

Whether natural or man-made, many emergencies and sudden-impact disasters occur in crowded environments, where the way people act and react can mean the difference between a life saved and a life lost. This makes the understanding of social behaviours during emergencies and disasters crucial.

Research from crowd psychology suggests that - rather than being alone - people tend to cluster together in groups during emergencies. This is important since researchers agree that when people collaborate instead of competing for evacuation, safety is improved and the risk for mental trauma can be reduced. When victims enter a psychological group, they can increase their chances of both physical survival and mental recovery. However, the psychological aspects of group formation in previous literature have been overlooked or treated as vehicles to collective behaviour rather than explored for the underpinning processes bringing strangers together. To further understand collaboration and social group behaviour in disasters, an expansion of this research is necessary.

My research has important academic and social impact: It explores the complexity of prosocial collective behaviour to decipher i) why people come together in emergencies, and ii) how they establish safe behaviour. My project offers an opportunity to explore formation of groups as they emerge, setting it apart from other studies which rely on self-reports and memories. My research will allow a deepened understanding of belonging, identity, and (parochial) altruism during disasters, and provides new, crucial knowledge about how, why, and when we move from a personal to a collective identity.

 

Impact:

This knowledge will have significant societal impact as it supports event organisers to better prepare for and handle emergencies through increased knowledge of intra- and inter-group processes across events. Moreover, it will allow me to work with first responders to develop training for emergencies using empirically validated data on group behaviour.

This research is likely to be published in high impact journals such as PLoS One, European Journal of Social Psychology, Scientific Reports, and Safety Science, making it available for this audience. Furthermore, I intend to attend relevant conferences and conduct collaborative visits in order to spark debate with other scientists working in this field and engage them in my research.

I aim to engage safety practitioners (e.g. event safety managers and rescue personnel) directly through my research findings. I plan to speak with both national and international organizations (e.g. Irish Safety Event, English Event Safety Plan, and Danish TrygFonden) about how my research can contribute to their work. My aim is that my research should be widely accessible and benefit the general population as broadly as possible.

Research design and methodology:

I propose a breakdown into four empirical studies, using an “escape room” design. 

An escape room is a confined space with puzzles to be completed in time; a scenario simulating an emergency. Though the concept of escape rooms is still new, its relevance in education and social studies is already recognized (Wiemker, Elumir, & Clare, 2016). There are numerous benefits of using escape rooms for this research: the versatility for the quantity and types of puzzles that can be changed, the time-frame and number of participants can be adjusted, simulated victims can be introduced, and stooges can be used to manipulate group dynamics. Finally, candid cameras can provide detailed, real-time overviews.

I intend to conduct three empirical, nonvirtual sub studies and one successive virtual study. The nonvirtual studies provide data on group behaviour in emergencies, which are used to parallelly design the virtual study. The aim of the virtual study is to create and ensure a standardised experience for each participant, which thereby serves to supplement and validate the results from the initial studies.

The structure of this project is fixed but flexible: the order of the studies is determined based on complexity, but insights from preceding studies allow for adjustments along the way. Beginning with the nonvirtual studies will allow time for designing and finetuning the virtual study. The structure of these five separate but interconnected modules (the literature review, and the suggested empirical studies) makes the research flexible and dynamic, and achievable within a 3-year PhD.

Budget for research and study expenses (for the entire duration of the 3 year-PhD):

Tuition fees: € 14.538,72 
Empirical studies: operation costs and participant compensation: € 5.880,00 
Empirical studies: development of virtual study (final stage): € 3.920,00 
Conferences and collaborative visits: € 2.016,00 
Books /materials related to study: € 2.352,00 
Travel/commute: € 1.008,00 
Miscellaneous costs (e.g. publishing costs): € 504,00 

Total: € 30.218,72 

Prize rewards:

In order to make this fundraiser a little more fun, I’ve decided to include a few items that will be randomly rewarded to high donations. In order to participate in the prize draw, simply donate an uneven amount (e.g. 113EUR).

(more artworks will appear here soon, stay tuned!)