Summary
Professor Gerald Midgley is Emeritus Professor of Systems Thinking in the Business School at the University of Hull. He also holds Adjunct Professorships at the University of Queensland, Australia; Mälardalen University, Sweden; the University of Canterbury, New Zealand; and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Gerald was Director of the Centre for Systems Studies at Hull from 1997 to 2003 and from 2010 to 2014. He has had more than 300 papers published on systems thinking, action research and stakeholder engagement, and has been involved in a wide variety of public sector, community development and resource management projects.
Book Chapter
Journal Article
Defining marine rewilding can help guide theory and practice in marine conservation
Brooker, E., Midgley, G., Burns, N., Trotman, C. E., Gregory, A., & Hopkins, C. R. (2025). Defining marine rewilding can help guide theory and practice in marine conservation. Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1), Article 241. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02155-x
Festschrift for Mike Jackson
Dwivedi, A., & Midgley, G. (2025). Festschrift for Mike Jackson. Systems research and behavioral science, 42(1), 3-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.3127
Report
Toward System Change to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance: Improving the Voluntary Stewardship of Antimicrobials in US Agriculture
Midgley, G., Elkins, A., Loneragan, G. H., Babowicz, M., Dass, M., Grohn, Y. T., Jordan, E., Lhermie, G., Lunt, L., McIntosh, W. A., Piñeiro, J. M., Sawyer, J., & Scott, H. M. (2023). Toward System Change to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance: Improving the Voluntary Stewardship of Antimicrobials in US Agriculture. Texas A&M AgriLife Research
Lead investigator
Project
Funder
Grant
Started
Status
Project
Research integration and implementation. Commonalities and differences among diverse communities
Funder
Leuphana University Lueneburg
Grant
£700.00
Started
11 September 2017
Status
Complete
Project
Travel Grant 7-18 August 2017
Funder
University of Queensland
Grant
£4,500.00
Started
7 August 2017
Status
Complete
Project
Travel Grant 18-20 August 2017
Funder
University of Technology Sydney
Grant
£500.00
Started
18 August 2017
Status
Complete
Project
Visiting Professorship in Systems Thinking for Sustainability in Linaeus University, Sweden
Funder
Linnaeus University
Grant
£65,942.00
Started
1 September 2020
Status
Complete
Project
The Development of Co-Creative Capacity for Addressing Socio-Environmental Problems and Beyond
Funder
National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center
Grant
£4,305.00
Started
1 April 2016
Status
Complete
Project
Maximizing voluntary compliance in antimicrobial stewardship programs: a critical factor for effective intervention
Funder
USDA United States Department of Agriculture
Grant
£67,140.00
Started
15 January 2017
Status
Complete
Project
Sustainable Decision-Making for Future Foods
Funder
Institute of Environmental Science & Research
Grant
£15,109.00
Started
1 October 2011
Status
Complete
Project
Co-producing knowledge in transdisciplinary research – From practice to theory
Funder
Mistra Urban Futures
Grant
£500.00
Started
1 November 2017
Status
Complete
Project
QR - SPF How to Build Systems Thinking Capabilities In The Civil Service & Improve Inter-Ministry and Stakeholder Collaborations
Funder
University of Hull
Grant
£19,119.00
Started
15 January 2020
Status
Complete
Project
Lessons from the HUTH COVID Response
Funder
East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Grant
£27,777.00
Started
1 April 2021
Status
Complete
Project
Visiting Professor of Systemic Innovation at Malardalens University, Sweden
Funder
Mälardalen University
Grant
£0.00
Started
1 April 2015
Status
Complete
Project
Systems Thinking for Positive Peace
Funder
University of Hull
Grant
£19,999.00
Started
1 February 2018
Status
Complete
Co-investigator
Project
Funder
Grant
Started
Status
Project
Resource recovery and remediation of alkaline wastes
Funder
NERC Natural Environment Research Council
Grant
£774,884.00
Started
31 August 2014
Status
Complete
Project
Thinking beyond the can': Mainstreaming UK beans in healthy meals (BeanMeals)
Funder
BBSRC Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Counc
Grant
£227,723.00
Started
5 April 2022
Status
Complete
Project
Local Policy Innovation Partnerships (LPIP) (Phase 1)
Funder
ESRC Economic & Social Research Council
Grant
£0.00
Started
21 April 2023
Status
Complete
Project
Understanding Boundary Judgment Dilemmas in Global Food Security Projects
Funder
University of Oxford
Grant
£15,200.00
Started
1 August 2018
Status
Complete
Project
Evolving a Circular Plastics Economy
Funder
EPSRC Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council
Grant
£938,304.00
Started
1 January 2019
Status
Complete
Postgraduate supervision
I welcome applications in any area of systems thinking, and am particularly looking for students wanting to develop new methodologies and methods for application to 'wicked' policy problems and community development.
Related areas in which I am interested in supervising include community operational research; problem structuring methods; dealing with power, conflict and marginalisation; and participatory practice.
Completed PhDs
I have supervised more than 30 PhD students to successful completion.
Current PhD supervisions
Maya Vachkova, Identity Issues in Radicalisation
Pam Sydelko, The Design of Inter-Agency Organisations to Tackle Wicked Problems, with Specific Reference to International Organised Crime
Alistair Smith, Clashing Understandings of the Role of the State in an Increasingly Pluralistic Society, and the Processes of Marginalisation this Produces in Local Communities
Louie Gardiner, Developing the Theory and Practice of 'Subjective Empiricism' to Support Systemic Intervention.
Delia MacNamara, Developing a Tool (the Boundary Triage) to Support Critical Self-Reflection as part of Leadership in a Networked Society
Oralia de la Pena de Torres, Extending Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory with the Theory of Boundary Critique to Support the Understanding of Marginalisation in Organisations.
Helene Finidori, The Use of Pattern Languages to Enhance Systems Thinking
Yulia Kozak, The Use of Counter-Factuals to Enhance the Systems Thinking of Managers
Lisa Hilder, The Drivers and Barriers to Social Entrepreneurship in Women's Grass-Roots Community Groups