Head of Research and Analysis, Centre for Science and Policy

Magda Osman is a cognitive psychologist by training, and also has a position at Leeds Business School, as a Professor of Policy Impact, Leeds Business School, and part of the Public Policy Forum.

Her specialisms are in risk analysis (risk assessment, risk management and risk communication), judgment, decision-making (risk and uncertainty), human agency and control. She has expertise in decision/behavioural sciences which is used to investigate the translation sof science to policy, behavioural change interventions (monitoring and evaluation), models of complex decision-making, the status of knowledge, and public understanding of science. Her applied research focuses on improved decision-making in clinical practice, risk assessment in crime/psychiatric units, food safety, and human computer interaction with smart systems/products.

She has published three academic books, and authored over 150 articles in management, economics, philosophy, linguistics, engineering, computer science, cognitive science as well as in psychology journals. Her research has been supported by several research councils (German research council -DFG, HK research council, EU, NSF, and in the UK – NIHR, ESRC, EPSRC, ARC, Research England, and Wellcome trust).

The ethos of her work has been to take a critical eye to well-accepted views and challenge the status quo. As a result, her research interests cover a range of areas that include decision-making, learning, problem-solving, biases, risk and uncertainty, agency and control, and the unconscious (see https://magdaosman.com/).

Magda is currently running an online course that provides learners with analytical tools and frameworks to deeply understand the problems they may be facing, improve their decision-making processes, and produce effective, evidence-based policy solutions. If you are early to mid-career professional and interested in the latest developments in decision making research, and how it can help to inform the way evidence is used to make decisions in policy making, then "Evidence Analysis and Decision-Making in Policy" may be the course for you. You can find out more and register for the course here.

Watch the course trailer now: