Core contributors

The core contributors to the Vitae research staff blog  represent a wide spectrum of disciplines, experiences, nationalities and current locations. They are:

Sandrine Berges

I'm a philosopher who's lecturing in Turkey. I got all my degrees in the UK (London and Leeds) and worked part time in England and Scotland before moving with my family to Turkey for a full-time job. I do research on moral and political philosophy both historical and contemporary - often mixing the two. I've done a lot of work on Plato and now I've moved to Mary Wollstonecraft. I write informally about feminist issues and about autism. I'm concerned about the place of women in philosophy - in jobs and syllabi

Sarah Davies

I’m a scholar of public engagement with science and technology. In the past I’ve studied – and taught – science communication and worked at the Science Museum, London, but my research now focuses on public dialogue on emerging technologies. I’ve been part of a multi-partner European project on the ethics of nanotechnology and a Fellow of Beacon North East for Public Engagement, and am currently a Visiting Researcher at the Center for Nanotechnology in Society, Arizona State University.

Liz Dodson

I am a Chartered Psychologist with a background in the field of acquired brain injury. A large proportion of adult acquired brain injuries are caused by road accidents and I therefore also developed a keen interest in road accident prevention. For the past five years I have worked at Loughborough University as a senior researcher within an on-scene crash investigation team. I specialize in accident causation and reconstruction, with a particular interest in road user behaviour. I am also co-chair of the UK Research Staff Association.

Simon Smith

I am a sociologist currently working at a health research institute in Leeds. I’m also attached to Leeds University’s Institute of Communications Studies. I do work on knowledge processes, science communication and online cultural production. I got my PhD from Bradford University in 1998 for a thesis on spaces of independent cultural production in communist Czechoslovakia. Since then I have exemplified the post-doctoral patchwork career path, with spells at three universities (interspersed with short spells out of work), conducting research on a variety of topics including interest representation in post-communist societies, community studies, regional identities and regional planning, digital inclusion and eHealth. I work part-time for a mixture of health and lifestyle reasons.

Blanka Sengerová

I am an enzymologist (or protein biochemist) with relatively little post-PhD experience, as I am still on my first postdoc position. My academic interests lie at the interface of chemistry and biology, with particular emphasis on how the function of enzymes relates to their chemical and structural make-up. I currently work on the biochemistry of DNA inter-strand cross-link repair in a Cancer Research UK funded lab, having moved from a chemistry department to an institute of molecular medicine between PhD and postdoc and thus finding myself somewhere with much more biological focus in all the seminars. Outside of the immediate confinement of the lab, I am interested in the communication of science and the enthusiasm for science to the general public, and to this end have been involved with the Voice of Young Science network, as a volunteer with Science Oxford Live and have recently become a STEM ambassador.

Tennie Videler

I am the Vitae programme manager for researchers. Before that I was a researcher, completing a doctorate and a dozen years of post-doctoral research in different fields of structural biology (mostly NMR and mass spectrometry of intact macromolecular complexes) .

I am the person in Vitae dedicated to making contact with researchers, both postgraduates and research staff. I write and commission resources for researchers and speak at events. I am active in creating a research staff community, setting up this research staff blog and supporting the setting up of the UKRSA. I have also been involved in research, such as the ‘What do researchers do?’ publications on the first employment destinations of doctoral graduates and on their careers stories.