Who to contact in the Research Culture & Researcher Development Team

As Head of the Research Culture & Researcher Development team, Megan is responsible for the strategic oversight of researcher development and research culture.

She is a co-I on the Valuing Voices for Equitable and Responsible Research project, funded by the Wellcome Trust, leading on the training and communications elements of the project. 

Megan has a background in facilitation and grant writing in the cultural and Higher Education sectors.

Sarah leads on institutional research culture activity, helping identify and share best practice to achieve the most productive and supportive research cultures within our departments and research institutes. She is experienced and passionate about driving positive change through research culture initiatives. Sarah founded an award-winning peer-support programme at the University alongside her PhD (Thrive and Survive in your PhD) and co-founded the Department of Health Sciences’ annual Research Showcase and researcher development event for ECRs. 

Sarah has degrees in English Literature, Occupational Therapy and a PhD in health inequalities and data science. She has a background in monitoring, evaluation, research, and patient and public involvement in the charitable and Higher Education sectors.

Dominika is a researcher developer with responsibility for the design, delivery and evaluation of training interventions for postgraduate researchers. Dominika has a PhD in cancer biology and brings her own experience as a PGR and as a Postdoctoral Researcher to her enthusiastic approach to supporting academic researchers’ development.

Sarah leads the design, implementation and evaluation of strategic organisational programmes, and initiatives related to research fellow selection, learning and development. She works collaboratively with stakeholders across York to ensure a joined up approach to university fellowship provision and policy and is a member of the Fellowships Coordination Committee. 

Sarah is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an EMCC-accredited coach who is passionate about supporting the career and leadership development of researchers. She is currently developing a new programme of events within the York Fellowship Programme to address the needs of emerging research leaders as well as aspiring research fellows. 

Hazel Lawrence
Researcher Developer (ECRS)
hazel.lawrence@york.ac.uk

Hazel designs, delivers and evaluates strategic development opportunities for ECRs across the University, supporting the achievement of the objectives of the York Graduate Research School and contributing to other University-wide projects related to researcher development.

Jessica Main
PGR Project Officer
jessica.main@york.ac.uk

Jess is the Project Officer for the Enhancing the PGR Journey project. The project explores and highlights best practice in supporting postgraduate researchers (PGRs) within departments, schools, institutes and other equivalent ‘homes’ within the University. The resulting report and insights will provide recommendations to enhance current packages of support and showcase examples of effective initiatives and strategies taking place across the University.

Jess has worked closely with PGRs throughout her time at the University, as a Departmental PG Administrator and part of the central Postgraduate Research Administration team.

Stewart manages the York Researcher Development Programme, working with external facilitators and colleagues across the university, to enable Postgraduate Researchers and Research Staff to undertake a wide variety of training that supports them, their research, and Research Culture at York.

He runs the annual PhD Spotlight public engagement competition, in addition to supporting the delivery of the 3 Minute Thesis competition and Postgraduate Researcher Induction. He also produces and distributes the monthly University Research Staff Newsletter.

Stewart holds a BSc in Biology and is passionate about Research Communication and Public Engagement of Research - running and supporting training in this area.

Fleur has managed a variety of research projects at the University of York for over ten years, supporting research in social policy, chemistry and telecommunications. In recent years, she has also been an active member of the growing PRISM community (Professional Research Investment Strategy Managers), which supports those in similar research project management roles and advocates for recognition from funders and institutions. Alongside the Valuing Voices project, Fleur will be the PRISMs Manager for the Faculty of Sciences from June 2024.

Roisin works as the Project Officer for the Valuing Voices project, which is focused on ensuring that research is equitable and responsible. Her role focuses on the project communications, as well as planning and delivery of events. She is involved in all aspects of the project including informing the development of the online tool, as well as piloting team equity interventions at The University of York, and supporting data collection and analysis for global equity interventions at Mahidol University in Thailand. 

Lucy Cheseldine
Training and Resource Development Officer
lucy.cheseldine@york.ac.uk

Karen Glerum-Brooks
Training and Resource Development Officer
karen.glerum-brooks@york.ac.uk

Raj Mann
YCEDE Project Manager
raj.mann@york.ac.uk

 Raj is the Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE) Project Manager of the OfS-funded project aiming to improve equity and inclusion within postgraduate research. The University of York is the lead partner in this consortium, and Raj Mann oversees the project across the five institutions which include University of York, University of Leeds, University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University, and University of Bradford. Managing the complex five-consortium project involves working closely to support ethnically minoritised PGRs and staff who support these PGRs. Raj is responsible for stakeholder management and relationship-building and driving cross-institutional collaboration, both nationally and internationally. Raj also manages the £4m+ budget and finances and has large-scale team management across five universities and works closely with all workstreams to ensure delivery of the project.

YCEDE Project Assistant
(role currently vacant)