This open access book provides a set of conceptual, empirical, and comparative chapters that apply a public policy perspective to investigate the political and institutional factors driving the use of evidence to inform health policy in low, middle, and high income settings. The work presents key findings from the Getting Research Into Policy (GRIP-Health) project: a five year, six country, programme of work supported by the European Research Council. The chapters further our understanding of evidence utilisation in health policymaking through the application of theories and methods from the policy sciences. They present new insights into the roles and importance of factors such as issue contestation, institutional arrangements, logics of appropriateness, and donor influence to explore individual cases and comparative experiences in the use of evidence to inform health policy. Justin Parkhurst is Associate Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (the LSE)’s Department of Health Policy, UK. He has conducted research on a range of global health policy issues and on the politics of evidence. He served as the Principal Investigator of the GRIP-Health programme of work. Benjamin Hawkins is Associate Professor at the Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. His research focuses on the role of research evidence and corporate actors in health policy making. In addition, he works on European integration, multi-level governance international trade and political economy approaches to health policy. Stefanie Ettelt is Associate Professor at the Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Her work examines the tensions between structure and agency in explaining the influence of evidence and research on policy-making and health system governance, particularly from a comparative perspective.

This volume focuses on microscopic plastic debris, also referred to as microplastics, which have been detected in aquatic environments around the globe and have accordingly raised serious concerns. The book explores whether microplastics represent emerging contaminants in freshwater systems, an area that remains underrepresented to date. Given the complexity of the issue, the book covers the current state-of-research on microplastics in rivers and lakes, including analytical aspects, environmental concentrations and sources, modelling approaches, interactions with biota, and ecological implications. To provide a broader perspective, the book also discusses lessons learned from nanomaterials and the implications of plastic debris for regulation, politics, economy, and society. In a research field that is rapidly evolving, it offers a solid overview for environmental chemists, engineers, and toxicologists, as well as water managers and policy-makers.

Online Course link: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/workplace-english Moving teaching online is more than just a switch to Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Together with the change of delivery platforms, universities have to consider the pedagogy, methods, tools and models of online teaching in order to maximise the effects of a virtual learning environment. How can universities ensure the quality to achieve satisfactory results for students and academic staff in regards to this new model of teaching? Covid-19 has had a significant impact on universities across the world. Higher Education institutions had to respond to the pandemic very quickly. During this session we will bring together sector experts to discuss quality teaching online.

Online Course link: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/understanding-ielts-writing Prepare for success in your IELTS Writing test The British Council’s four Understanding IELTS courses give you a complete guide to everything you need to know as you prepare for the IELTS test. This course focuses on the Academic Writing test. You’ll explore the test format and develop strategies for each type of task. You’ll look at graphs and charts in Task One, how to approach the task and the language needed for a successful answer. You’ll examine Task Two questions and learn how to plan, write and check academic essays. You’ll also look at the assessment criteria, what the examiner looks for and how to write successfully for IELTS.

Online Course link: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/understanding-ielts-listening Prepare for success in your IELTS Listening test The British Council’s four Understanding IELTS courses will give you a complete guide to everything you need to know as you prepare for the IELTS test. This course focuses on the Listening test. You’ll explore the format of the test and develop learning strategies to help you tackle the different types of tasks you’ll meet. You’ll also look at general English listening strategies that will help you cope with the kind of complex texts on unfamiliar topics that you’ll meet in your IELTS studies.