While at SCAS as a Hernes-CAS Fellow in the spring of 2027, Rosemary Rhiannon Bishop will work on a project titled “A growing success?: investigating cereal crop productivity in prehistory".

How productive were ancient crops compared to today? Was prehistoric farming in more challenging environments and periods of climatic downturn less productive, and did these farmers develop risk management strategies to adapt where farming was less productive? The project will examine agricultural productivity, adaptation and resilience in the archaeological record. The data for changing agricultural productivity will be critically examined in relation to prehistoric cultivation strategies, wider societal risk management strategies and the challenges presented by varying climatic conditions across Southern Scandinavia and Atlantic Scotland during the 4th to 1st millennium BC. The results of the project will provide a new level of insight into the productivity of prehistoric farming and will provide time-depth for understanding food production and food security in relation to climate, with a resonance far beyond archaeology.

In her research project, Yana Simutina will examine how industrial relations and collective labour rights have evolved in Ukraine during the post-socialist transition, amid a protracted war, and in light of the country's prospects for accession to the European Union. Particular attention will be paid to the proportionality of wartime restrictions, analyzing the tension between flexibility and the protection of fundamental labour rights in a state of emergency. The project will also consider the impact of the rise in gig work on trade union representation and collective bargaining. Drawing on international and European labour standards, the research will address the challenges Ukraine faces in implementing these standards and extending collective labour rights beyond traditional forms of employment. The project ultimately aims to contribute to the broader academic debate on the future of labour regulation in contemporary economies.

Yana Simutina will be a SCAS-VUIAS Fellow at the Collegium during the spring of 2027.