ESG/SDG

Canadian business innovator wins the 2025 Panmure House Prize

Heriot-Watt University

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Professor Pratima ‘Tima’ Bansal of the Ivey Business School

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Credit: Panmure House

Professor Pratima ‘Tima’ Bansal of the Ivey Business School, Western University in Canada has won the 2025 Panmure House Prize.

 

She was selected from a distinguished shortlist of four leading academics from Europe and North America, for her pioneering research and long-standing advocacy for embedding sustainability at the heart of business strategy.

 

After careful deliberation, the 10-strong judging panel, representing business and academia, commended Professor Bansal for her pioneering work in reshaping how business understands sustainability and elevating it from a peripheral concern to a core driver of strategy and resilience. They added that her ability to bridge rigorous research with practical impact had ‘inspired leaders across sectors to embed long-term, responsible decision-making at the heart of business practice’.

 

The award carries a $75,000USD prize, one of the largest academic prizes in interdisciplinary research, which Professor Bansal will use to advance her work in helping businesses better align profitability with long-term environmental and social sustainability. Central to this effort is Innovation North, a research-practice founded by Professor Bansal in 2019 to assist organisations navigate complex systemic challenges. To date, Innovation North has partnered with more than 30 organisations across diverse sectors including finance, agriculture, and construction.

 

Giving her reaction to winning the Prize, Professor Bansal said: “I am deeply honoured to receive the Panmure House Prize for the work my team is doing at Innovation North. 

 

“Rooted in the philosophy of Adam Smith, the award affirms the importance of our research in working with organisations to create long-term prosperity for all through systems thinking.”  

 

Among the first to congratulate Professor Bansal is Professor Adam Dixon, Adam Smith Chair in Sustainable Capitalism at Panmure House. 

 

“Professor Bansal’s work exemplifies the spirit of Adam Smith’s legacy, bringing rigorous economic thinking to bear on the great challenges of our time,” he said. 

 

“Her research not only advances academic understanding but also provides practical pathways for businesses to thrive while creating long-term value for society.”

 

Also passing on their congratulations is the Dean of the Ivey Business School at Western University, Julian Birkinshaw, who said: “Tima Bansal has been a trailblazer in shaping how business leaders approach sustainability, long before it became mainstream. Her pioneering research and leadership, grounded in systems thinking, have not only put Ivey at the forefront of sustainable business scholarship but have also inspired a generation of students and executives to rethink the role of business in society. The Panmure Prize is a fitting recognition of her remarkable career and her unwavering commitment to long-term, systemic change.” 

 

Now in its fifth year, the Panmure House Prize is named after Panmure House, the former Edinburgh residence of 18th-century economist and philosopher Adam Smith, who is considered as the ‘father of modern economics’.  Winners are invited to deliver a lecture a year after their win at the House the following year.

 

The Prize is administered in partnership with FCLTGlobal, a non-profit organisation that promotes long-term investing, and is supported by investment manager Baillie Gifford.

  

This year’s fellow finalists were Professor Joshua Pearce from Western University in Canada, Professor Killian Huber from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and Professor Pedro Gomes from Birkbeck, University of London.

 

Panmure House was built in 1691 with Smith occupying the House between 1778 and 1790, during which time he completed the final editions of his master works: The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations.  

 

In 2008, Edinburgh Business School and Heriot-Watt University undertook to rescue this historic building from dereliction. Following a 10-year, £5.6m renovation, Panmure House was formally opened in November 2018. Today the house is a centre of excellence for the study of contemporary economics, a place of reflection on the legacy of Adam Smith, and a venue for social and economic debate.

  

Panmure House in Edinburgh. 

Submissions for next year’s Prize can be made from January 2026.  Visit the Panmure House Prize webpage for details. 

 

Aeroplane spotting using a radio telescope

Serendipitous observation reveals how aeroplanes discharge static electricity

University of Groningen

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This is Olaf Scholten, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He has observed radio wave-emissions originating from a commercial airliner, most likely caused by the discharge of static electricity.

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Credit: University of Groningen

An international team of scientists, led by Olaf Scholten, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Groningen, has observed radio wave-emissions originating from a commercial airliner, most likely caused by the discharge of static electricity. The serendipitous observation of radio wave emissions from specific locations on the aircraft may be of interest to the aviation industry. In addition, this has already enabled the team to identify a source of error in their imaging techniques. The results were published on 26 November in the journal Nature Communications.

Static electricity builds up through friction, for example, between your clothes and the fabric of your chair, but also in aeroplanes when they pass through frozen clouds. Aeroplanes are therefore fitted with electrostatic discharge wicks, which are designed to shed electrostatic charges in a way that does not cause dangerous sparks or interfere with the aircraft’s communications. Interestingly, the discharges observed by Scholten and his team, while the aeroplane was cruising at an altitude of 8 kilometres, were located around the two engines and at one spot on the tail, rather than at the electrostatic discharge wicks. The events near the tail were measured with an accuracy of about 50 cm.

Of interest to the aviation industry

The observation was made using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope, an antenna network located mainly in the Netherlands and spanning seven other European countries. This telescope is primarily used for astronomy, but also for studying the formation of lightning. In previous work, Scholten and his colleagues used LOFAR to make the most detailed lightning images in the world. Thanks to the serendipitous discovery of the aircraft’s emissions, the researchers were able to improve their technique, which will make lightning detections even more accurate in the future.

Flight data revealed that the observed aircraft was a Boeing 777-306 (ER) from the Dutch airline KLM. After searching their archives, Scholten and his colleagues found emissions from a second aircraft, flying at an altitude of 11.6 km. These emissions were also located around the engines and at one point on the tail.  These observations demonstrate that it is possible to use LOFAR to study the accumulation and discharge of electricity by aircraft flying through clouds. Scholten: ‘This would be of interest to the aviation industry, as static charges can create sparks that may damage the plane.’

Reference: Olaf Scholten et al., Measuring location and properties of very high frequency sources emitted from an aircraft flying through high clouds. Nature Communications, 26 November.

Map of the LOFAR network of antenna stations,

Credit

ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy

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Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-025-65667-2 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Measuring location and properties of very high frequency sources emitted from an aircraft flying through high clouds

 

Childhood trauma leads to more difficult births

Uppsala University

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Per Kristiansson, specialist in general medicine and adjunct professor at the Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Sweden

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Credit: Uppsala University

Women who have been exposed to multiple traumatic experiences during childhood have more difficult births than others. They are much more likely to need emergency caesarean sections, suffer major haemorrhages or pre-eclampsia, and need more antibiotics. These findings come from a new study involving 1,253 women, who were monitored from before giving birth to one year afterwards.

“Healthcare providers need to have the courage to ask women about their experiences as children in order to be able to give traumatised women more attention during pregnancy so as to prevent or mitigate negative consequences after childbirth,” says Per Kristiansson, a specialist in general medicine and adjunct professor at Uppsala University in Sweden who led the study.

It is well documented that the conditions and patterns affecting a person or their environment during childhood also influence their adult life. There is extensive research on how experiences of and exposure to mental ill health, poverty, cognitive challenges and the like stay with a person. However, until now, little has been known about the impact of childhood trauma on childbirth.

Over 1,200 women surveyed

In a new study, researchers have investigated whether traumatic events have any impact on the course of labour and delivery. The study is based on responses from 1,253 women who were asked to complete three questionnaires during early pregnancy, with follow-up one year after the birth. The forms contained questions about childhood trauma, mode of delivery and obstetric complications. The types of trauma included physical and emotional trauma, physical and emotional neglect, and family dysfunction.

The women were then grouped according to the number of reported traumatic experiences, in the categories 0 traumas, 1–3 traumas and 4 traumas or more. 42 per cent of the women reported 0 childhood traumas, while 46 per cent reported 1–3 and 12 per cent reported 4 or more childhood traumas.

Four times more women developed pre-eclampsia

The women with 4 or more traumas generally had the most complications. Compared with the group that had reported 0 childhood traumas, there were four times as many cases of pre-eclampsia. Twice as many were delivered by caesarean section. The incidence of excessive bleeding during childbirth (more than 1000 ml) was more than three times as high. As regards antibiotic treatment, there were three times as many cases as in the comparison group.

“It was surprising that early life events could influence somatic outcomes in childbirth and that this applies to both outcomes relating to the woman’s own body and outcomes involving outsiders.”, say's Per Kristiansson at Uppsala University

 

Kristiansson P. et al; Maternal adverse childhood experiences and perinatal outcomes: A retrospective inceptive cohort study, PLOS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0333366, https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0333366 

 

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Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0333366 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Maternal adverse childhood experiences and perinatal outcomes: A retrospective inceptive cohort study

 

Toxic metals in wheat grain: do they come from the soil or the fertilizer?

German–American research team traces the origin

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ

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Most toxic metals come from mineral fertilisers. A combination of mineral and organic fertilisation would reduce it.

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Credit: Aleksandra Pieńkowska / UFZ

“From field and greenhouse studies, it is known that the type of fertilisation – i.e. mineral or organic – has an influence on the metal concentration in crops”, says Prof. Dr Marie Muehe, head of the Plant Biogeochemistry working group at the UFZ and co-leader of the study. “But until now, it was not known whether the metals absorbed by the plants came from the soil or directly from the fertilisers”. This is what the German–American research team aimed to find out with their current study.

The scientists used soil samples and wheat grains from the static fertilisation experiment at the UFZ research station in Bad Lauchstädt. The static fertilisation experiment was established in 1902 and is one of the most valuable long-term experiments worldwide, largely because of its exceptional duration. “Some plots have not been fertilised for over 120 years while others have been fertilised with only mineral fertiliser, only organic fertiliser – such as manure from neighbouring farms – or a mixture of both”, says Muehe. Over the long duration of the trial, the soil properties (e.g. the pH value or the organic matter content) have diverged considerably. The sample material from this long-term trial was therefore the perfect basis for the analyses. Because soil samples and harvested wheat grains from all trial plots are archived each year, we have an excellent data basis.

For their study, the researchers took a closer look at samples from the past 20 years. “We first determined the respective metal contents in the soil, in the harvested wheat grains, and in the fertilisers used”, explains Aleksandra Pieńkowska, UFZ doctoral candidate and co-lead author of the study. In order to find out whether the metals contained in the wheat grains originate from the soil or the fertiliser, the researchers used the strontium isotope signature method, which is based on the fact that the chemical element strontium (Sr) occurs in two different isotopes, 87Sr and 86Sr. “Because the ratio of these two isotopes differs in each soil type, it is essentially a fingerprint”, explains Robert Hill, doctoral candidate at Duke University and co-lead author of the study. “If the ratio in the wheat grain is the same as in the soil on which the plant has grown, it can be concluded that the plant absorbed the strontium from the soil. However, if the isotope ratio in the grain corresponds to that of the fertiliser, this is a clear indication that the strontium got into the grain via the fertiliser”. And because it is known that plants absorb strontium and cadmium via similar pathways, conclusions can also be drawn for cadmium.

The results show that the toxic metals in the analysed wheat grains originate from the fertiliser rather than from the soil. In addition, the metal contents are particularly high when mineral rather than organic fertilisation is used. “To interpret these results, it is important to note that our investigations were carried out in a region with very fertile chernozem soils. These effects could become even more evident in sandy or acidic soils”, says Pieńkowska. Given that long-term mineral fertilisation also leads to soil acidification, measures to stabilise pH levels (e.g. liming) become even more important”.

However, not all metals contained in mineral fertilisers are undesirable. For example, zinc is an important metallic trace element for nutrition. But can the absorption of zinc in wheat grain be promoted while preventing the absorption of toxic metals? “Our investigations have also shown that by combining the fertilisers, it was possible to increase the zinc concentration in the wheat grain without increasing the cadmium concentration”, says Muehe. “We therefore recommend combined fertilisation or alternating applications of mineral and organic fertilisers. This not only reduces fertiliser costs but also improves grain quality”.

In subsequent studies, the researchers aim to examine how metal levels in crops respond to changing environmental conditions, including those driven by climate change.

Grain harvest in the static fertilisation experiment at the UFZ experimental station Bad Lauchstädt (Germany)

Credit

André Künzelmann / UFZ

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Journal

Environment International

DOI

10.1016/j.envint.2025.109851 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Article Title

Impacts of fertilisation on metal(loid) transfer from soil to wheat in a long-term fertilisation experiment – using 87Sr/86Sr isotopes as metal(loid) tracer