Dr Karen Stroobants

Biography 

Karen Stroobants is a policy adviser and consultant on research policy, strategy and evaluation. She manages a portfolio of activities, combining roles as lead policy advisor on research landscape & economy for the Royal Society of Chemistry (the professional body for chemical scientists in the UK) and as freelance consultant, focusing most recently on pieces of work on: drafting a European agreement on reforming research assessment for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research & Innovation; and providing expert advice on the European project towards Standard Operating Procedures for Research Integrity (SOPs4RI).

Previously, Karen was a Research Leader at RAND Europe, where she took the lead on a range of projects in the ‘research on research’ space, including development of a research strategy for a government authority and evaluation of research policy measures. Before joining RAND Europe, Karen worked in several policy advisory roles, for the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Society (the UK’s National Academy of Science), leading work in the areas of open science and research culture. During her time at the Royal Society, she developed the Resumé for Researchers, that since has been introduced by UKRI and other European funders.

Karen moved to the UK initially to conduct research on protein misfolding in the context of gaining increased understanding of the molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases, with Chris Dobson and Michele Vendruscolo at the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge. Prior to her work in Cambridge, Karen obtained her PhD in chemistry at KU Leuven in Belgium.