Professor Susan Michie won the Jury Prize at the 2021 Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards

The Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards, which are endowed in the will of Sakıp Sabancı, the Honorary Chairperson of Sabancı University, and administered under the leadership of Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Istanbul Policy Center continue to reward scientists in the field of social sciences. Under theme of  "The Post-Corona World and Turkey: Social, Psychological and Political Impacts of the Pandemics”, the 16th Sakıp Sabancı International Research Awards Special Jury Prize was presented to Professor Susan Michie, Director of the Center for Behavior Change at University College London. 

A Fellow of the UK’s Academy of Medical Sciences and the Academy of Social Sciences, Professor Michie is Professor of Health Psychology, Director of the Centre for Behavior Change at University College London, and co-director, fellow and advisor in many research institutions. Being in the front line of the fight against Covid-19, Professor Michie is a member of the Covid-19 Behavioral Science Advisory Group, a sub-group of the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), the Lancet Commission on Covid-19, the Behavioral Predictions and Sciences Technical Board of the WHO and chair of the Academy of Social Science’s ‘Health of People’ project.

Professor Michie’s scientific research has focused on sustainable behavior change required to protect public health and the environment. She has developed genuine theories and evidence-based interventions for behavior change in this field. The projects and programs she has developed through interdisciplinary cooperation with medicine, environmental engineering and computer science, particularly by using machine learning and AI applications effectively, have been implemented in numerous fields. Her two collaborative interdisciplinary projects are the Human Behaviour Change Project and Complex Systems for Sustainability and Health. Professor Michie has more than 500 scientific articles and many books published, and her book Behavior Change Wheel: A Guide to Designing Interventions” is one of the reference books in the related field. Her scientific work constitutes a rich source for public health programs and public policies in the field of psychological health to be developed during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Professor Michie is a role model for social scientists not only for her development and implementation of behavior-change models but also for her awareness of social inequalities, and leadership in explaining the social and psychological impact of the Covid-19 to policy-makers and the community. Please click here for more detailed information.