News & Events

The Future of Whistleblowing Research: On-Campus Keynote and Panel Discussion, 30th March

Whistleblowing is a topic of interest for scholars and practitioners in Law, Business Ethics, Social Sciences and Management. With the incoming EU Whistleblower Directive (2021) changing the landscape of disclosure at workplaces across Europe, alongside changes to laws in many other countries worldwide, the future of research in this area is critical to examine. Key issues include theories of whistleblowing, ethics of whistleblowing, legal systems for whistleblower protection, transparency and speak-up systems.

Join us for a Keynote Presentation by Professor David Lewis, Middlesex University, on 'The Future of Whistleblowing Research'. 30th March, time: 13.00- 14.15, Venue CA110 St Anthony's, University of Galway North Campus. For further inquiries about the event, kindly contact the organizing committee members: Bashir Alao (B.Alao1@universityofgalway.ie) and Maria Batishcheva (M.Batishcheva1@universityofgalway.ie).

The Keynote will be followed by a Panel Discussion on 'Early Career Researchers and Whistleblowing Studies' with Dr Meghan Van Portfliet, University of Boulder Colorado (U.S.), Dr Lauren Kierans BL, NUI Maynooth (Irl), and Professor John Blenkinsopp, Oslo Nye University, (Norway) and Northumbria University (UK). Time: 14.15-15.15,Venue CA110 St Anthony's. Attendees include visiting scholars from South Africa, Norway, UK, Ireland, Italy, Austria, US, Sweden, and France. 

All welcome!

Event Chair: Professor Kate Kenny (University of Galway, J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics).

Organising Committee: Bashir Alao and Maria Batishcheva (PhD candidates at University of Galway, J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics).

After the talks, we host a paper development workshop with roundtables lednby senior academics, where attendees will be given feedback on their works in progress, and a networking forum for visiting scholars in the same venue, followed by drinks and dinner. Submissions are closed for the workshop but all are welcome to attend the Keynote and Panel Discussion.

Event hosted with the help of:

University of Galway's Whitaker Institute and

NUI Grant Scheme for Early Career Academics

Speaker Biographies

Professor David Lewis

David Lewis is Professor of Employment Law and Head of the Whistleblowing Research Unit at Middlesex University. He is also Convenor of the International Whistleblowing Research Network. David has been researching the subject of employment protection for whistleblowers since 1994 and has published internationally in law, business ethics, information technology and human resource management journals. He has considerable experience as a consultant for the European Commission, Council of Europe, OECD and UN Office on Drugs and Crime. He has given expert evidence (inter alia) to the Budgetary Control Committee of the European Parliament and the UK Committee on Standards in Public Life.

Professor John Blenkinsopp

John Blenkinsopp holds positions as Professor of Organisational Psychology at Oslo Nye University (Norway) and Professor of Organisational Psychology at Northumbria University (UK). His research explores how people make sense of their work and careers, career disruptions and impacts for organizations, and how this links to the future of work. Key research projects include whistleblowing in healthcare, an examination of the role of the medical physics expert, an international comparison of bullying and emotional labour, and a study of undergraduates’ perceptions of graduate careers.  In 2023, Professor Blenkinsopp is an honorary professor at University of Galway's J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, affiliated with the MBA programme.

Dr Lauren Kierans BL

Dr Lauren Kierans BL is a barrister and Assistant Professor in Law at Maynooth University where she lectures on Whistleblowing Law at undergraduate level, as well as delivering a Professional Certificate on Whistleblowing Law, Practice and Policy. Lauren is a co-founder and the Director of Education at the European Whistleblowing Institute (‘EWI’). She was awarded her PhD on the Irish Protected Disclosures Act 2014 in June 2019. She has published articles and book chapters on protected disclosures and co-authored the Annotated Statute on the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. The second edition will be published in Spring 2023. She has also produced country reports on protected disclosures and spoken on this topic at various conferences, CPD events, round-table panel discussions, and legislative briefings at both national and international level. Lauren is an associate with Transparency International Ireland’s Integrity at Work programme and has trained over 2,500 workers on protected disclosures.

Dr Meghan Van Portfliet

Dr. Meghan Van Portfliet is an Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She received her PhD from Queen's University Belfast in 2019, and her research interests include whistleblowing and organizational ignorance. She has published her work in journals such as ephemera, Journal of Business Ethics, and Organization, and advises on the Integrity at Work programme for Transparency International Ireland. Meghan is an Associate Research at University of Galway’s Whitaker Institute.

Professor Kate Kenny

Kate Kenny is Professor of Business and Society and Programme Director of the MBA at University of Galway. She has held research fellowships at Cambridge University's Judge Business School and the Edmond J. Safra Lab at Harvard University. Professor Kenny's work has been published in Organization Studies, Gender Work and Organizations, ephemera and Human Relations among other journals. She serves on the editorial boards of two FT50 journals. Her books include Whistleblowing: Toward a New Theory (Harvard University Press, 2019), The Whistleblowing Guide: Speak Up Arrangements, Challenges and Best Practices (Wiley, 2019), Understanding Identity and Organizations (Sage 2011, with A. Whittle and H. Willmott), and Affect at Work: The Psychosocial and Organization Studies (Palgrave 2014, with M. Fotaki).  See www.whistleblowingimpact.org  for more details of her current research, including articles, reports and video.