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Under the Centennial Fellowships, Senior Lecturer Dr Franziska Meinck and Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Hannabeth Franchino-Olsen will work on their research projects in South Africa at the Johannesburg and Wits Rural campuses for two to three months.

Both researchers are based in the Social Work department at the School of Social and Political Science.

The research projects – Supporting mental health and preventing violence during pregnancy

Dr Meinck’s research encompasses two related projects:

• The first extends an ongoing collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and Wits School of Public Health. The ESRC-funded study ‘Interrupt Violence’ is investigating intergenerational violence transmission across a three-generational sample. Dr Meinck will extend the research to the department of Social Work at Wits to investigate the use of professional social workers on research studies focusing on sensitive topics.
• The second aims to develop a major grant application with existing collaborators at Wits drawing on the learnings of the first project. The project will develop and pilot a perinatal, manualised, problem-solving therapy intervention - delivered by lay counsellors - to reduce intimate partner violence and depressive/anxiety symptoms for pregnant young women.

Dr Meinck said: "I am delighted to have received the opportunity to deepen work relationships with colleagues at Wits to work towards the eradication of intergenerational violence.

“Families in South Africa deserve the best possible policies based on rigorous research evidence and we are working together with the government to achieve this. The Centennial Fellowship gives us the opportunity to meet with relevant stakeholders and thoroughly plan steps for future research and dissemination of findings."

The research projects – Feasibility of conducting sensitive violence research with young children

Dr Hannabeth Franchino-Olsen’s research looks at experiences of distress and disclosures among children interviewed about interpersonal violence.

The project will explore how children respond in interviews about violence, aiming to create valuable opportunities to learn how to better include children’s voices in research and find opportunities for early violence prevention.

Dr Franchino-Olsen said: "I am thrilled to receive the Wits Centennial Fellowship. Prior to beginning my postdoctoral position at the University of Edinburgh, my research focused on secondary data collection and expert interviews. The fellowship is allowing me to not only join our primary data collection team in South Africa to monitor and observe their fieldwork efforts but also allows me to engage in primary data collection of my own, thus expanding my experience as a researcher.

“This would not have been possible if not for the fellowship, which is creating space for my extended visit in the field. I am also excited to deepen my connections with experts at the University of the Witwatersrand, as this will be my first chance to meet many of my collaborators and co-authors in person. "

Congratulations, Franziska and Hannabeth!

Witwatersrand also awarded a third short-term fellowship to Dr Aidan Mosselson in Edinburgh College of Art. Find out more about this third project on the Edinburgh Global website.

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