Dr Richard Philpot

Senior Lecturer

Profile

I conduct research at the intersection of psychology, criminology, law and technology around how groups coordinate in public emergencies and during criminal events (e.g., in public assaults, mass evacuations, suspected terror attacks). My research further evaluates the psychology of emergency services' interaoperability, and how police behaviour impacts public confidence in policing.

Throughout this research, I explore the unfolding dynamics of real-life group behaviour using digital data sources—including public CCTV footage, bodyworn camera footage, app data and agent-based modelling.

In addition to academic publications, I have produced reports and delivered presentations for government and industry partners, including: the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), the Department for Transport (DfT), Transport for London (TfL), the West Midlands Police (WMP), the Danish Crime Prevention Council, Exeter City Council, and the Movia Transport Agency.

My research has had direct societal impact, having been applied in national agency recommendations (Danish Crime Prevention Council, DfT) and covered by prominent science magazines (e.g., New Scientist, Discover Magazine, Psychology Today) and news outlets (e.g., Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Times, Daily Mail).

Taken together, these findings contribute to theoretical understandings of human cooperation and coordination, public behaviour, and social processes in the digital age.

Research Grants

2026-2027 Co-I of £9,450 grant: 'Theatre for Research Integrity Interventions (TRII).' AHRC Impact Acceleration Account Open Call.

2025-2028 Co-I of £454,211 grant: 'The Lancaster Policing Academic Centre of Excellence (L-PACE).' United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI).

2024-2026 Co-I of £999,514 grant: 'Reimagining research practices: towards a sustainable, ethical and inclusive future.' Wellcome Trust. Institutional Funding for Research Culture (IFRC).

2023-2025 Co-I of £115,010 grant: 'Interoperability of the Emergency Services: JESIP+ ' Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threat (CREST) and Home Office.

2022-2023 PI of £99,679 grant: ‘Testing assumptions regarding potential behavioural responses during an emergency’. Dstl.

2021-2023 Co-PI of £124,904 grant: ‘The Psychology of Interoperability: Building Better Multi-agency Counter-terrorism Training’. CREST.

2020-2021 PI of £60,740 grant: ‘Analysis of CCTV Footage to Understand Behavioural Responses during Emergency Incidents in Public Places’. Dstl & DfT.

2019-2019 Co-PI of £68,578 grant: ‘Delivering Expertise and Capability in CCTV Analysis of Disasters and Emergencies (DEC-CADE)’. Dstl & DfT.

2019-2019 Co-PI of a successful Lorentz Centre bid to secure £28,435 towards an international workshop at the Lorentz Centre, Netherlands, entitled ‘Bystander Roles in Peace and Conflict’, 29 April – 3 May 2019.

2018-2021 Co-applicant of a £359,235 grant: ‘Aggression towards public servants’, Work-life Research Fund. Postdoctoral Researcher position offered 2019-2021.

2017-2020 Co-applicant of a £538,602 grant: ‘Violence, Bystanders, and... Action!’. Danish Council for Independent Research. Postdoctoral Researcher on the project until 2019.

2017-2017 Co-PI of £35,000 grant: ‘CCTV and Night-time Economy Interventions: A Knowledge Exchange Programme’. Impact Acceleration Accounts, Exeter.

Current Teaching

PSYC7231: Digital Data Applications (Module Co-ordinator)
PSYC7342: Psychology and Behavioural Analytics MSc Dissertations (Module Co-ordinator)
PSYC6041: Undergraduate Dissertations (Supervisor)