Lawrence Barsalou receives a position in the ARC Accelerator Programme to develop and commercialise the Situated Assessment Method

January 2021

The ARC Accelerator Programme is a first-of-its-kind opportunity designed specifically to help social science researchers to develop ideas based on their research into businesses or ventures that help people, society and the economy.  In the 2021 programme, 15 UK-wide training positions were available across participating universities.

The ARC Accelerator is a six-month programme in which trainees benefit from:  (1) support for exploring and developing their idea, (2) a three-week entrepreneurial bootcamp led by industry experts, (3) specialised sector-specific training with access to experts, investors, and key networks, (4) mentorship to validate ideas, develop business models, and support pitches for funding and investment.

While participating in the ARC programmer, I aim to develop, implement, and distribute the Situated Assessment Method (SAM2) for measuring, predicting, and changing health behaviours, including stress, social connectiveness, eating habits, trichotillomania, etc.  This novel and powerful approach has significant potential for being implemented in digital health apps for use by clinicians, health practitioners, and private individuals.