Philip Schlesinger has been appointed to the new Chair in Cultural Policy at the University of Glasgow, where he will become Academic Director of the Centre for Cultural Policy Research (CCPR) on 1 January 2007.

He said: "CCPR is moving into a new major development phase. The aim is simple: to make it into a world-class centre for independent critical research, analysis and postgraduate teaching.

"It's a bold move by Glasgow to invest in this."

Professor Schlesinger is leaving Stirling University ﾖ where he has directed the renowned Media Research Institute since the early 1990s ﾖ together with a team of talented colleagues.

Both Raymond Boyle, who writes on sport and the media, and Gillian Doyle, a cultural economist specialising in media policy and regulation, have high international reputations for their work.

Professor Schlesinger's Arts and Humanities Research Council project group, as well as a number of PhDs, are also transferring with him to Glasgow.

CCPR has already established itself as an important forum for debate about cultural policy in Scotland. Under Professor Schlesinger, it will stay true to its Scottish mission but he also wants to shift the Centre into becoming a UK, EU and international player.

It will now take on board new developments in the media and communications industries.

Professor Schlesinger added: "You can't analyse culture today without understanding how it's being transformed by media and communications."

With a global academic reputation, Professor Schlesinger is well connected with the cultural and media industries and policy makers. He is a trustee of the media training and research body TRC and a member of Ofcom's Scottish Advisory Committee.

His current research ﾖ funded by the AHRC - is on UK creative industries policy and its impact. Professor Schlesinger sees cultural policy research as occupying a broad canvas, taking in ﾖ for instance ﾖ current struggles over multiculturalism and the place of religion in society.

The University would like to thank Christine Hamilton, the departing head of the Centre for Cultural Policy Research, for her valued contribution to the establishment and development of the centre as the leading institution in Scotland for cultural policy research. She is to take up a post at Coventry University.

Ray McHugh (r.mchugh@admin.gla.ac.uk)

For more information please contact the University of Glasgow?s Media Relations Office on 0141 330 3535 or email r.mchugh@admin.gla.ac.uk

Launched in October 2001, the Centre for Cultural Policy Research is a leading institution in cultural policy research in Scotland. Based in arts and humanities, but working collaboratively across the disciplines, CCPR has developed a critical and self-reflexive research culture that contributes to the development of the discipline in the UK and beyond. With the creative arts in Scotland as its point of departure, CCPR also plays a leading role in developing cultural policy through the provision of rigorous, independent and high quality applied research and commentary.

The University of Glasgow is one of the United Kingdom?s oldest and most prestigious universities, with an international reputation for its research and teaching and an important role in the cultural and commercial life of the country.

First published: 30 November 2006