Graduate School

As Head of Research and Dean of the pan-University Graduate School, I lead the development of the research agenda at Abertay. I am a microbiologist by background with over 30 years of experience as a researcher and academic. I truly believe that our Postgraduate Research Students are central to the Abertay research community and to driving our research excellence, innovation and ultimately our success going forward.

The world requires passionate but professional researchers who can think critically but also creatively, to better understand and offer solutions to the complex problems that face us today. At Abertay, we promote a collaborative, cross- and inter-disciplinary approach to the way our researchers work; highly-skilled discipline experts working together and learning from each other, to innovate and find creative solutions for the modern world.

We would be pleased to welcome you to the Abertay Graduate School for your postgraduate studies. We pride ourselves in being a small and friendly University with an excellent research environment, extensive researcher development opportunities, close links with industry, the public and third sectors, and a welcoming student support service. We are here to help you reach your full potential and to achieve your ambitions and goals.

I am Head of Researcher Development and Research Impact.  My background is in psychology, epidemiology and health sciences and I have over 25 years' experience as a researcher, academic and postgraduate research supervisor. 

I am responsible for developing the Graduate School’s Researcher Development Training Programme to support academic staff and postgraduate research students develop their portfolio of research and transferable skills.  The programme provides a wide range of seminars and workshops on a range of topics, from research methods to statistics, project management to academic writing and public engagement to enterprise.  In addition to delivering a series of lectures, I work closely with research staff and postgraduate research students to provide one-to-one support and feedback on creating research plans, writing academic papers and grant applications and developing research impact.   I also Chair the Graduate School Forum and manage the Chancellor’s Fund.

We recognise the importance of supporting our researchers to be the very best they can be and have a fulfilling career. Our Graduate School is a friendly and vibrant community which has a positive research culture and we work closely with our staff and postgraduate students to help them develop their own niche and fulfil their research potential. 

I am the Outreach and Researcher Development Coordinator. My background is in psychology, and I have over 14 years experience working in outreach and public engagement. I have worked on national (UK wide) widening access schemes and a series of large Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related festivals for primary schools in the local area through my current role.

I facilitate training workshops on outreach and public engagement, and I also offer help, advice and any arising opportunities to both our postgraduate students and staff who would like to get involved in disseminating their research more widely to varying ages of audiences from a variety of backgrounds. Furthermore, I am a point of contact for those, including primary and secondary schools, who would like to engage with the University and our research community.

I am always happy to hear about and help on new or existing initiatives.

I am the point of contact within the University for advice on:

• Research contracts and collaboration agreements;
• Intellectual Property policy and agreements;
• Non-disclosure agreements.

I should be consulted by any colleagues who are preparing to, or have been asked by an external contact to sign any of these types of agreements. 

I am also the University REF Manager, which involves co-ordinating the University submission to the UK Government’s assessment of the quality of Universities’ research, an exercise that affects both Abertay’s funding and reputation.

I am the Researcher Development Officer.  I provide support and training in research methods and statistics for academic staff and postgraduate research students.  I am a statistician and have been teaching and providing statistics consulting in the UK and Syria since 1995. I have expert knowledge of multivariate statistical techniques (parametric and nonparametric tests).

I also have extensive expertise of various statistics packages (including R and SPSS). My main professional foci are design of experiments, sampling and data collection strategies, the analysis and modelling of experimental and survey data, the interpretation and presentation of the results obtained from analyses and contributing to professional publications and research papers.  I run a series of session on research design and statistics, hold weekly statistics drop in-sessions and provide one-to-one consultancy for academic staff and postgraduate students.

I am the School’s Grant Writer and Developer.  An experienced research support professional and academic researcher, I have 13 years of experience working across both the natural and social sciences at Newcastle, St Andrews and Edinburgh Universities. I have supported successful bids to a wide range of funders, including UKRI, H2020/Horizon Europe, NIHR, Leverhulme, British Academy, Carnegie and many more. My academic background is in ecology and conservation, and I maintain close links to this field in my role as associate editor for two ecological academic journals.

At Abertay I support, guide and help prepare external funding applications in collaboration with individual researchers and research teams from across the University. I’m available to help throughout the entire grant preparation lifecycle, from helping academics select the correct funder for their research and advising on scheme eligibility and funder rules, through reviewing and contributing to the drafting of proposals and budgets, helping to find and coordinate project partners/stakeholders, and supporting final submissions. I also identify and explore upcoming calls, providing targeted information on relevant calls to academic Divisions/Schools, and meet with funders and stakeholders to explore future opportunities.

Alongside Alison Elliott (Head of Researcher Development), I support researcher development training, including grant writing, the development of research impact, scoping funding opportunities for proposals, and other relevant areas.

If you’re thinking of submitting a grant, or have any questions about the process more generally, I’d love to hear from you.