School of Social and Political Science

SPS academic honoured with prestigious Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship 



Image of Janette Webb, and the RSE logo

Professor Janette Webb has been announced as a new Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) fellow for 2023.  

The RSE is Scotland’s National Academy, which provides independent expert advice to policymakers and aims to inspire the next generation of innovative thinkers. Professor Webb, who works at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Social and Political Science (SPS), is one of 91 new fellows who have been elected to join the RSE from across the sciences, education, the arts, business and public life. 

The collective knowledge of the fellows contributes to the social and economic wellbeing of Scotland, its people and the nation’s wider contribution to the global community.  

Professor Webb MBE FRSE FEI is a Professor of the Sociology of Organisations at SPS. Her research focuses on societal responses to climate crisis, and the tight coupling between modern societies and fossil fuels across sectors and scales, from global finance to governments to low-income households. She is currently Co-Director of the UK Energy Research Centre, leading multi-disciplinary research on the potential of integrated local and regional energy systems to improve ‘whole-system’ resilience, affordability and efficiency. Professor Webb is also a member of Ofgem/Innovate UK Strategic Innovation Fund expert panel on Systems Integration and Scottish Science Advisory Council Energy Group. She was a member of Scottish Power Energy Networks 2020-22 Customer Engagement Group, which was responsible for challenging the company’s business plans and investments for the 2023-28 regulatory period.  

Professor Webb said: “The RSE Fellowship is very welcome recognition of the value of social science research on the innovations needed to face up to climate crisis and to end our dependence on fossil fuels. I hope the Fellowship will help to support further development of social studies of energy as a field of knowledge and practical action.”

Congratulations to Professor Webb on her fellowship.

Read the announcement story with the full list of new fellows on the RSE website.