Neil Shortland, Program Manager at the Center for Terrorism and Security Studies and PhD student with the Institute of Critical and Major Incident Psychology at the University of Liverpool uses qualitative, quantitative and experimental research methods to investigate issues pertinent to domestic and international security. While working alongside Professor John Horgan, Neil Shortland conducted several data-driven research projects on terrorist behavior, terrorist targeting, adaptation, creativity and innovation, and terrorist disengagement. As part of his PhD studies, and alongside researchers at Harvard University, Neil explores the psychological process of how individuals make decisions under extreme levels of physiological and psychological strain and under conditions of uncertainty, complexity, time pressure and accountability. This research has direct implications for issues surrounding selection and training, but also has important implications for ongoing discussions surrounding deployment of new technologies (e.g., drones) in both domestic and international security. Neil is also a Visiting Research Fellow at University of Oxford’s Changing Character of War Program (Summer 2016). Previously Neil has held applied roles at the Defense and Science and Technology Laboratory (the research arm of the United Kingdom Armed Forces), the Home Team Behavioral Sciences Centre (HTBSC), Singapore and the UK Police Force. Neil has published his research in academic Journals such as Science, and currently has a book contract with Oxford University Press to develop a manuscript on the psychological processes that drive effective decision-making during military operations.
