The Quick Colleague Catch-up
Each month we catch-up with a different colleague from within Birmingham Business School to ask them 10 questions; five related to their job and life at the Business School, the other five quizzing them about their interests, memories and hobbies.
This month; Dr Layla Branicki, Lecturer in Strategy and International Business
What I do…
I’m a Lecturer in Strategy and International Business with research interests in resilience, extreme events and social media. I enjoy engaging with practitioners and policy-makers in the course of my research, and as such I’m excited to be supporting Jo Duberley in developing the School’s impact strategy.
Best thing about working at Birmingham Business School…
I could say the grand red brick campus, the great opportunities or the high level of support available for research but the very best thing has to be the people.
Favourite thing or place on campus…
My desk when the words are flowing, anywhere that serves coffee and has interesting people to talk to when they are not.
Where to go for the best food and drink on campus…
Staff House for its versatility as whether you want the ambience, and the carpet, of a 1970s British pub, a contemporary coffee shop or a sit down meal it is all under one roof.
If I were to start a lunchtime club…
Well it’s not quite a club but Rachel Mulhall and I are hoping to organise a series of lunchtime events for early career researchers for 2014/15.
In my spare time…
I like to be beside the seaside.
Proudest moment or achievement…
Tough question, it’s a four way tie between not falling off of the Inca Trail, the final key stroke on my PhD, speaking at an event called ‘I Tweet Therefore I am’ at The Houses of Parliament and my wedding day.
Favourite book or current read…
I recently read The Circle by Dave Eggers, which is a novel about a techno-dystopian future where big business and social media dominate and privacy has fallen by the way side to be replaced by the virtue of transparency. With my research hat on (I don’t literally have one but now wish that I did) it was a thought provoking read about the practical and ethical limits of social media use… but mainly it made me want to buy a piece of wearable tech.
Earliest memory…
Filling my brand new dolls pram with mud, leaves and snails and being surprised that my Mum didn’t think that this was industrious behaviour.
If I could only ever watch three films ever again, they would be…
Film is dead, long live the box set. I could watch 24, The Wire and Breaking Bad on loop.