New faces who profess a passion for research

Movers & Shakers

Students at Surrey University will be able to get expert advice about where to go in their long vacations from two new tourism professors. David Airey, professor of tourism management, was one of the first postgraduates in tourism 23 years ago when the subject was still a twinkle in most universities' eyes. He hails from Nottingham business school and is one of Britain's leading tourism education pundits. Professor Richard Butler, whose research specialism is the impact of tourism on indigenous people, particularly in the remote islands of the North Atlantic, comes from the University of Western Ontario.

For people's historian Raphael Samuel, who is deserting Ruskin College, Oxford, for the grittier pastures of the University of East London, the most fascinating people to study are on our doorstep. The chronicler of workers and peasants has been enticed to east London by the chance to start a new centre for historical research. How could he refuse? "It seemed like a dream," says the 61-year-old, who is taking up the chair in the cultural studies department this term. His new centre will spew out pamphlets, courses and exhibitions on the modern history of the metropolis. And Professor Samuel is looking for a researcher to help him with a history of ethnic high streets in east London. Apply now.

Another professor who has fallen for the lure of his own research centre is Richard Higgott. An Antipodean who joined Warwick University's politics department this year, he will run a new centre on globalisation. The Economic and Social Research council has given the centre almost pounds 2m over five years - big money in the social sciences. For help with economics he could turn to Ilafiz Mirza, of the University of Bradford, who runs courses on the management of international development, focusing on the Asian tiger economies and their lessons for us all.