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Researchers at Loughborough University are preparing to launch a new project which aims to answer the question - why and how are some human lives regarded as expendable, while others are deemed exemplary?
The project aims to compare and contrast Finland, the UK and Bangladesh over a four-year period to establish why some human beings are treated differently than others in practice and on paper by examining different categories of protection seekers received by those currently residing in these countries.
Led by Dr Azmeary Ferdoush from Loughborough’s Department of Geography and Environment, the project is funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award, and will begin in September this year.
The project will see researchers collaborating across the globe to establish why and how some human lives are regarded as expendable while others are treated with exemplary care.
Dr Azmeary Ferdoush, who will form and lead a team of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in delivering this project, explained the importance behind the research.
He said: “We, unfortunately, live in a time where the value of human lives is ranked so arbitrarily that often legitimises mass killing of some at one extreme while concurrently, enables exemplary treatments of a select few on the other.
“While existing scholarship offers an answer, it fails to differentiate between the expendable and the exemplary lives; instead, it dilutes both within the same framework of the exception. Geographies of Example aims to intervene in this juncture to answer why and how the modern state-system is able to create and justify expendable and exemplary lives through its use of space, time, and categories. And, of course, who does it serve?
“I am extremely honored and privileged to have received the Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award. This will give me the time and team to conduct the research which would not have been possible by myself alone.”
This study builds on previous research from Dr Ferdoush, where he compared the numerous protection seekers and their experiences in Finland and Bangladesh specifically through the lenses of time and “atonement”.
This research is particularly relevant at a time when countries often seek international support for civilians in response to natural disasters and conflict.
The project is valued at up to £1 million for the four-year duration.
Notes for editors
Press release reference number: 26/27
About Loughborough University
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.
It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme and named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2025 QS World University Rankings – the ninth year running.
Loughborough has been ranked seventh in the Complete University Guide 2026 – out of 130 institutions. This milestone marks a decade in the top ten for Loughborough – a feat shared only by the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, St Andrews, Durham and Imperial.
Loughborough was also named University of the Year for Sport in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 - the fourth time it has been awarded the prestigious title.
In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded eight Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education.
The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.
About the Leverhulme Trust
The Leverhulme Trust is an independent charity that seeks to fund ambitious blue skies research and scholarship, which has the potential to generate new ideas and research breakthroughs that benefit society. The Trust also aims to support a diverse range of scholars in their educational endeavours. Focusing efforts mainly in the UK, which has a world-class higher education research sector.
Since its foundation in 1925, the Trust has provided grants and scholarships for research and education, funding research projects, fellowships, studentships, bursaries and prizes across all academic disciplines. Today, it is one of the largest all-subject providers of research funding in the UK, distributing approximately £120 million a year. leverhulme.ac.uk
