Expert Request – Wednesday 12 March

If you are interested in writing an article for a request below, please email the contact listed in the request to find out more. Please note, article requests are fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis. You can pitch an article directly to The Conversation via the detail listed here.

1. World: We’d like a historian of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to write a piece about what happened with the Minsk accords of 2014/15 and why they failed to stop the violence.

Timescale: ASAP/tomorrow | Contact: Jonathan Este

2. Politics + Society: [REPEATED] Who will be affected by changes to social security and cuts to disability benefits? We’re looking for hard numbers or data that shows the scope of benefits, or explainers on how disability PIPs work and where changes or improvements could be made to the system.

Timescale: ASAP/tomorrow | Contact: Avery Anapol

3. Science + Technology: We’re looking for an expert who could write about the discovery of four new planets orbiting the closest single star to our Solar System, Barnard’s Star. What do we know about them so far and are these planets particularly good targets for future characterisation given the proximity of the star?

Timescale: ASAP | Contact: Paul Rincon

4. Science + Technology: [REPEATED] We’re looking for an expert who could look at the status and challenges facing some of the non-mammoth attempts at de-extinction, such as projects to revive the dodo and thylacine.

Timescale: ASAP | Contact: Paul Rincon

5. Arts + Culture: We’re looking for an expert to write about the new report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations that says remains brought to Britain as part of colonialism, such as Egyptian mummies, should be repatriated. What would be the ramifications of enacting the recommendations? How many institutions in the UK would be affected? What arguments aren’t being heard in stories around this at present?

Timescale: ASAP | Contact: Anna Walker

6. Science + Technology: We’re looking for an expert to write about animals presumed extinct that reappear after decades or centuries, following a new study which discusses how a frog was rediscovered after 130 years.

Timescale: next week | Contact: Jenna Hutber

7. Arts + Culture: Our Quarter Life team, which works on articles for readers in their 20s and 30s, is in the early stages of planning a series on modern sex, dating and relationships. We’d like to hear from academics researching in these areas. Particularly keen to hear about recent or ongoing research into the data behind dating and relationship trends among this demographic.

Timescale: ongoing | Contact: Anna Walker