Professor Melinda Mills is CO-I of the European Social Science Genetics Network, a European funded Marie-Curie Doctoral Training Network.

The European Social Science Genetics Network (ESSGN) brings together eight academic beneficiaries, including the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, with a shared interest in social science genetics. The Networks aim is to train the next generation of social scientists in the responsible and technically correct use of genetic data and in objective communication about what can and cannot be learned from working with genetic data in the social sciences.

As part of ESSGN, DPhil Student Vincent Straub combines genomic and survey data to understand the extent to which adolescent socioeconomic and family circumstances impact externalising behaviour, how this can lead to inequalities in later life outcomes, and the moderating role played by one’s genetic predispositions. His work aims to help provide policy-relevant evidence on equality of opportunity and improve our grasp of how genetic predispositions can create and influence inequalities.