Vitae researcher development conference 2010: realising the potential of researchers 06 September 2010 - 07 September 2010

Keynote speakers

Professor Sir Ivor Crewe, Master of University College, University of Oxford and Chair, Concordat Strategy Group

Professor Sir Ivor Crewe is Chair of the Research Concordat Strategy Group.  He became Master of University College, Oxford in 2008.  A graduate of Exeter College (PPE 1963) and Junior Research Fellow of Nuffield College (1969-71) he was appointed Lecturer in Government at the University of Essex in 1971, where he taught and wrote on British politics, particularly on elections, parties and public opinion. 

At Essex he was also Director of the ESRC Data Archive from 1974-1982, Co-Director of the ESRC British Election Study from 1973 to 1981, and co-editor of the British Journal of Political Science from 1977 to 1992.  He established the British Household Panel Study in the late 1980s and was founding Director of its accompanying research centre, the Institute for Social and Economic Research. 

His academic interest lies in British politics, especially elections, parties and public opinion, and his many publications include  Decade of Dealignment, SDP: The Social and Democratic Party 1981-1987 and The New British Politics. He is currently undertaking research on major policy failures in UK government.

He became a Pro-Vice Chancellor at Essex in 1992 and its Vice Chancellor from 1995 to 2007.  He was active on the national stage of higher education policy and as President of Universities UK in the mid 1990s led university vice chancellors in their support of the Government's introductions of ‘top-up' fees.

Professor Barbara Evans, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of British Columbia

Professor Barbara Evans is Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of British Columbia. As Dean she is primarily responsible for oversight of policy, management and quality assurance for most masters and doctoral programs, and for the quality of research supervision and graduate student outcomes. The Faculty has also recently become the central unit responsible for supporting Postdoctoral Fellows across the campus. The Faculty provides a wide range of academic support, generic skills training and professional development programs for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, supervising faculty and staff. Prior to this appointment Barbara had been Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Training) and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) at The University of Melbourne for over ten years.

Barbara has spoken at many conferences focused on graduate education across the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia.  She has been the Convener of the Universitas 21 Deans and Directors of Graduate Studies and of the Australian Deans and Directors of Graduate Studies. Each group is committed to improving graduate education in a global context, quality assurance, and national and international benchmarking of research higher degree practices. Barbara is also a key member of two important global networks focused on graduate and doctoral education - ‘Strategic Leaders Global Summits on Graduate Education' hosted through the US Council of Graduate Schools and ‘Forces and Forms of Change in Doctoral Education' organized through the ‘Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education' at the University of Washington.

Originally a comparative physiologist and zoologist, Barbara's research resulted in over 100 publications and she is author and editor of three award-winning Biology textbooks for tertiary and senior secondary students, each now in their fourth edition.

Professor David Gani, Deputy Principal, External Affairs, University of Strathclyde

David Gani joined Strathclyde in December 2009 after seven years as director of research, innovation and global engagement at the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). While there, he led the development of research pools, driving forward the SFC's investment in research alliances to create a competitive edge for Scotland in world-leading research. He also pioneered the Council's innovative approach to the funding of knowledge exchange between universities, business and the public sector.

Prior to joining the Council, he held senior academic posts in chemistry at the universities of Southampton, St Andrews and Birmingham. As a result of his research in organic chemistry he has received many awards culminating in becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Society of Chemistry.  

He has published more than 160 refereed scientific research papers and filed several patent applications. More recently, he has authored policy papers and analyses spanning the areas of research, knowledge exchange and higher education funding policy.

Professor Andrew George, Professor of Molecular Immunology; Director of the Graduate School of Life Sciences and Medicine and the School of Professional Development, Imperial College London

Andrew George did his first degree at the University of Cambridge, before going on to the Tenovus Laboratories in the University of Southampton to do his PhD with Professor Freda Stevenson, developing a vaccine for B cell lymphoma. He was awarded a Beit Memorial Fellowship and stayed in Southampton for his first postdoctoral period, before going to Dr David Segal's laboratory in the NIH, Bethesda, USA, where he used recombinant techniques to generate novel antibody molecules. In 1992 he returned to the UK as a lecturer at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital (now part of the Faculty of Medicine of Imperial College London). He is Professor of Molecular Immunology in the Department. Andrew's research has sought to understand and manipulate the immune system in order to treat disease, in particular to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs. He has also used mathematical models to understand how the immune system functions. During 2003-2006 he was BBSRC Research Leave Fellow. He is Chair of the Scientific Panel of Action Medical Research. In addition to his research, he has been involved in the ethical conduct and regulation of research. He is currently Chair of the UK's National Research Ethics Advisors' Panel and is also on the Clinical Trials Expert Advisory Group for the Commission of Human Medicines/MHRA. Andrew is Director of the Graduate School of Life Sciences and Medicine and the School of Professional Development of Imperial College London. Until 2003 he was course organiser of the MSc in Immunology, and in 2000 and 2004 was given an Imperial College Awards for Excellence in Teaching. He has also been Head of Science BSc courses for the Faculty of Medicine. 

Dr Alison Hodge MBE, University Partnerships Director, QinetiQ and Chair, Independent Review of Roberts’ Recommendations

Trained as a research physicist, Alison is currently QinetiQ University Partnerships Director. She is recognised nationally as a leading exponent of knowledge exploitation between businesses and universities. Her professional career has encompassed pioneering research, management of applied research and strategic direction of specific programmes. Her initial employment was in the UK Civil Service. As a Department Head, she transitioned teams in the former Ministry of Defence research laboratories into Agency status then profit driven commercial company. She is an enthusiastic ambassador for women in science and engineering, and the need for these STEM skills.

 Alison is highly networked; she has been a member of Council of the Institute of Physics and has just been elected as a member of the Council of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. She was Interim Chair of the EPSRC User Panel and Chairs the CBI Inter-Company Academic Relations Group. Alison is currently Chairing the Review of the use of "Roberts money" for researchers skills development. She was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2002 for Services to the Institute of Physics.

Professor Geraint Johnes, Dean of Postgraduate Studies, Lancaster University

Dr Thomas Jørgensen, Head of Unit, EUA Council for Doctoral Education

Thomas Jørgensen is Head of Unit at the European University Association's Council for Doctoral Education. He is responsible for issues related to doctoral education, particularly institutional aspects such as structured programmes and doctoral schools. In addition, he is working with global developments in doctoral/graduate education and EU research policy.

Thomas received his PhD in history and civilisation from the European University Institute in Florence in 2004 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Copenhagen before coming to Brussels. As a historian, he has - among other things - worked on student movements and 1968.

Dr Katrien Maes, Chief Policy Officer, League of European Research Universities

Katrien Maes is Chief Policy Officer for the League of European Research Universities. LERU is an association of 22 European universities renowned for, and devoted to, world class research coupled with high quality teaching. LERU promotes the role and values of research universities in the knowledge society across Europe and beyond. Its purpose is to advocate these values, influence policy in Europe and to promote good practice through members’ exchange of experience. Katrien has been with LERU since 2004 and is currently responsible for policy development and support across all areas of LERU’s activities, including research and innovation, research funding, management and assessment, research careers and training. She has a special interest in EU policies regarding researcher training and career development and is in charge of LERU members’ activities in doctoral training and research staff career development.

Originally from Belgium, Katrien lived and worked in the US from 1986 until 2002, first as a doctoral student in linguistics, then as an assistant professor of Italian language and foreign language pedagogy at the University of Delaware. During that time her research interests focused on syntax, second language acquisition and computer-assisted language learning. Her teaching subjects ranged from Italian language and linguistics to foreign language acquisition and pedagogy for young and adult second language learners.

Professor April McMahon, Vice-Principal Planning, Resources and Research Policy, University of Edinburgh

April McMahon is Vice Principal for Planning, Resources and Research Policy at the University of Edinburgh; her main responsibilities are in strategic planning, resource allocation, and estates.  April is also Forbes Professor of English Language, and maintains research interests and research student supervision in areas including accents of English, language families and language change, and the history of English and Scots.  Her current research focuses on comparing the sounds of accents of English, and more information can be found at www.soundcomparisons.org. April was previously Head of the College of Humanities and Social Science, and of the School of Psychology, Philosophy and Language Sciences, also at Edinburgh, and has also worked at the Universities of Cambridge and Sheffield. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of the British Academy, and currently serves on the Council of the British Academy.  April has a strong interest in training and development, especially relating to research funding, and regularly gives talks and workshops in this area.  She is currently chair of the Vitae Researcher Development Framework Advisory Group.

Dr Debbie McVitty, Research and Policy Officer (postgraduates), National Union of Students (NUS)

Debbie McVitty joined NUS in 2009 to provide research and policy support to the newly-created postgraduate campaign. She was formerly a training co-ordinator for an academic division at Oxford University, a role that involved delivery of transferable and academic skills training. She was awarded her DPhil in eighteenth-century literature in 2008. In her current role she supports students' unions in campaigning on aspects of the postgraduate student experience, such as finance, employability and assessment and feedback 

Dr Chris Moore, R&D Specialist, UK Trade and Investment

Chris has over 25 years' experience in industry, working in research, technology management, manufacturing and marketing in the USA and Europe. He has an accumulated wealth of experience covering knowledge transfer, Open Innovation, Intellectual Property assessment, engagement with early-stage companies and the VC community and developing routes to market.

Chris' expertise encompasses the fields of Homeland Security, Electronics, Information Technology, Digital Media, Imaging & Printing. He began his career as a scientist with Kodak after gaining a degree and PhD in chemistry. Here he took on a series of roles including Project Leader, Commercialisation Manager and Emerging Technology Programme Leader, before moving to Marketing as Group Brand Manager and then Digital Products Growth Manager. Returning to R&D he led a group of about 40 scientists as Chemical Technology Laboratory Manager, covering projects in chemistry, physics, electronics, optics, material and analytical science. As Technology Development Manager for Kodak European Research, Chris set up the company's new European Research facility in Cambridge and created and introduced an Open Innovation process. He was then appointed Director of Venture Capital and University Investments for Kodak External Alliances. Here he drove participation in major European R&D projects, advised other multinationals establishing Open Innovation infrastructures and identified and assessed more than 200 early-stage technology  companies involved with IT, digital media, electronics, imaging, printing, materials, security and cleantech.

Chris moved to UKTI in 2009 to take up the role of R&D Specialist where he works with a targeted group of international companies (based in N. America, Europe and Asia) to facilitate inward investment in R&D collaborations with UK universities and early stage companies.

He has also acted as a technology scout and open innovation practitioner on a consultancy basis. Chris has been responsible for 24 patents and 10 publications. He has been the director of several UK graduate schools, Committee Vice-chair of the Cambridge Enterprise & Technology Club, and a Science & Engineering Ambassador

Professor Rick Rylance, Chief Executive, AHRC and RCUK Champion for Research Careers

Before taking up the post of AHRC Chief Executive, Rick Rylance was Head of the School of Arts, Languages and Literatures at the University of Exeter.  Prior to moving to Exeter in 2003 he was Dean of Arts and Letters at the then Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge which he left as Dean of Arts and Letters.  His own research is in English and he was Chair of the English Sub-panel of the RAE 2008 and a member of Main Panel M (Languages and Literature).  He was a founder member of the English Subject Centre's Advisory Board, a past chair of the Council of College and University English (CCUE), and is currently a member of the Higher Education Committee of the English Association.  He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in 1998 and a Founding Fellow of the English Association in 1999.  His main research interests are in nineteenth and twentieth-century literature and the intellectual and literary history of those periods.  He has a particular interest in the history of psychology and the relationship between literature and psychology.

Dr Chris Thomson, Researcher and UKRSA Co-chair, University of Hull

Dr Chris Thomson is a committee member of the UKRSA. He is also a researcher at the University of Hull developing an eLearning platform and content to support researchers at the University. His background in is software engineering where he successfully completed his PhD and postdoc examining the way that teams develop software. In his spare time he (somehow) undertakes various consultancy projects and fits in a bit of gardening.