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Meet the team

Director's Office

Prof. Simonetta Manfredi

Prof. Simonetta Manfredi

Director of Research, Innovation and Enterprise

Simonetta leads the Directorate and works closely with the PVC for Research and Global Partnerships to provide leadership for the implementation of strategies, policies and to support activities that underpin the university’s ambitions for Research & Innovation as set out in the R&I Pillar of the 2035 Strategy. 

She also works closely with the Associate Directors on the strategic development of university-wide policies relating to research support and governance, KE and impact and entrepreneurship. 

She represents and promotes the university RI&E community and its activities regionally, nationally and internationally and engages in forums related to policy development at regional, national and international levels.  

Bev Blackman

Bev Blackman

Office Manager & PA to the Director

Bev provides support and administrative assistance to the Director and team. She also guides and advises on various day to day processes (HR confidential personnel matters, recruitment, finance, and general administration/issues, induction), as well as managing the Director's diary and liaising with staff on her behalf.

Helen Roberts

Helen Roberts

Senior Administrative Officer (Finance & HR)

Helen manages and administers the HEIF, patents and licensing budgets on behalf of the budget holders.

Research Support and Governance team

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Tudor Georgescu

Deputy Director & Associate Director Research Support and Governance

Tudor leads the Research Support team within the Directorate as well as providing support to the PVC Research & Global Partnerships and to Prof. Manfredi. His team provides research support services for grant applications, data management, research ethics and training to optimise the university’s research performance, as well as enabling the processes, systems and policies, including provision of contracts. This work overlaps with the Directorate’s KE and Impact team. 

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Steven Radley

Research Funding Officer & Pre-Award Team Leader

Steven leads the Pre-Award team in Research Support and Governance, supporting academics across the University to submit externally funded research grant applications. His responsibilities also include managing and maintaining Worktribe, the University's research and consultancy costing tool.

Gareth Preston

Gareth Preston

Research Funding Officer

Gareth supports centrally managed research processes across the University and to optimise opportunities for funded research. He works alongside academic colleagues across the University submitting research bids to a range of external funding organisations. He ensures the bids are correctly costed, in line with university policies and compliant with all terms and conditions. He also has expertise in EU funding, and supports research activities in the Business School and Geography department. 

Ruzena Zemanova

Thomas Andersen

Research Funding Administrator

As a pre-award research funding administrator, Thomas supports researchers, mostly within OxINMAHR, with submitting their research grant applications, primarily in health and related academic disciplines. This ranges from discussing and reviewing the early drafts of their applications, costing them, preparing the SoECAT (if needed) and advising on all aspects, including the final reviews, as well as liaising with Faculty Research Offices.

Kevin Henderson

Kevin Henderson

Contracts Manager & Post Award Team Leader

Kevin is responsible for reviewing and implementing mainly research and consultancy contracts, and ensuring the University’s interests are protected. This can include collaboration agreements with several partners and Non-Disclosure Agreements. The Contracts team has Service Levels help to ensure contracts are dealt with in a timely manner.

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Mieke Tyrrell

Post Award Processes Officer

Mieke manages the Post Awards processes relating to Research projects. This involves assisting Faculties through the life cycles of projects to keep expenditure in line with prescribed terms and conditions, preparing interim and final financial statements for funders, and sorting out the logistics of QR income and its distribution to budget holders.

Jennie Cripps

Jennie Cripps

Researcher Development Coordinator

Jennie works in training and development for research-active staff. She manages the University Research & KE Training programme and the University Research Staff Mentoring Scheme. She also convenes the University’s Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers Working Group and is responsible for annual external reporting on its work supporting our Contract Researchers and their Managers.

Research Culture and Practice team

Dr Robyn Curtis

Dr Robyn Curtis

Research Practice and Culture Team Manager

Robyn and her team provide support, training and advice to staff and research students on research ethics, as well as ensuring their research activities are compliant with UK and international legislation, funders requirements and best practice in ‘Trusted Research’. Working with researchers and professional services colleagues across the University to identify, mitigate and manage risks connected with research collaborations, including ensuring appropriate data capture within the University’s research management systems.

Misbah Omar

Misbah Omar

Research Ethics Administrator

Misbah supports the research ethics application process for staff and research students at Oxford Brookes, providing vital assistance to ensure all research undertaken at the University is delivered in an ethical and appropriate manner.

Joseph Corneli

Joseph Corneli

Open Research Project Manager

University Research Ethics Officer

University Research Ethics Officer

Post holder to join in 2023

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Research Data Manager

Post holder to join in 2023

Knowledge Exchange and Impact team

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Vacant

Associate Director KE and Impact

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Ashley Ritchie

Research and Innovation Networks and Knowledge Exchange Manager

Ashley, supports the strategic development of the Research and Innovation Networks, to encourage and facilitate cross-disciplinary research and cross-faculties collaborations. He leads on the implementation of the KE Concordat and contributes to other KE activities, including facilitating collaborations with industry and KTPs. He provides advice and guidance on consultancy, CPD and training, monitors the implementation and effectiveness of KE related policies, assists in the scrutiny and approval of consultancy proposals.  

Dr Ellie Beaman

Dr Ellie Beaman

Public and Community Engagement Coordinator

Ellie is involved in the development and implementation of the university’s public engagement with research (PER) strategy. She supports and encourages research-active staff and students with opportunities, skill development, and creative idea generation to deliver and communicate excellent PER. Ellie is also the event manager for the Oxford Brookes Science Bazaar. 

Vijay Hare

Vijay Hare

Research Assistant

Vijay Hare is a research assistant in the Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team providing support to public engagement activities and with the implementation of the Knowledge Exchange Concordat. He also helps with the management of social media to communicate and disseminate RIKE activities across the Directorate. 

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Matty Mathe

Communication and Engagement Officer

Matty supports the Directorate for Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) in the publicity and promotion of Oxford Brookes University’s Research, Innovation and Knowledge Exchange activities. He develops and creates public engagement campaigns, digital and printed publications and webpages. Furthermore, Matty supports the organisation and promotion of research events. 

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Allison Stevens

Research and Innovation Networks Support Officer

Allison provides support to the Research, Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (RIKE) networks. She coordinates activities with the Steering Group Chairs, Network Leads and Research Fellows across seven networks. 

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Kevin Maynard

Business Development Manager, AI & Data – General

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Anna Verghese

Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Manager and Consultant  

Anna connects businesses and other organisations with our academic experts to work on KTPs. She provides advice and guidance throughout the process of application for a KTP to InnovateUK as well as post-award support.  

Ed Cole

Ed Cole

IP & Commercialisation Manager

Ed provides guidance and support to academics who wish to commercialise their research through licensing and the creation of spin-out companies. He also advises on intellectual property matters and applications for patenting.

Enterprise team

Dr Phil Clegg

Dr Philip Clegg

Associate Director Enterprise

Phil leads the Enterprise Team and the development of programmes to increase the number of student start-ups. He also leads and develops the Enterprise Centre and ScaleBase, as well as leading the university strategy to embed enterprise in the academic curriculum.

Elizabeth Cameron

Elizabeth Cameron

Enterprise Support Manager

Elizabeth manages the enterprise support team, creating structure and vision for the work they do. She heads up external relationships with business, individuals and organisations, to create a responsive professional and effectively resourced programme of support to all aspiring entrepreneurially minded people at Oxford Brookes.

Dr Samia Kamal

Dr Samia Kamal

Enterprise Academic Lead

Samia is Principal Lecturer for Student Experience in the School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, in TDE and a part-time secondment (0.4FTE) to the Enterprise Support Team. She provides guidance and support to Brookes academics on embedding enterprise and entrepreneurship education practices within the curriculum with appropriate adaptations for different disciplines. She also curates the annual Evolve Conference, leads the Bridge Programme and oversees our pro-incubator ICE Qube.

Molly Palmer

Molly Palmer

Enterprise Support Coordinator

Lead on Bloom, personal development and entrepreneurial growth; coordinates and matches our start-ups with our expert mentors and business coaches, and handles all of the various endorsement options for our international graduates seeking visas to start a business in the UK.

Afroditi Pekou

Afroditi Pekou

Enterprise Support Assistant

Afroditi ensures the smooth and coordinated delivery of Bridge and Evolve with Samia, leads on our evaluation and works alongside Elizabeth on our Business Engagement work. She also provides support across the team by utilising her broad professional skillset to deliver our wide range of initiatives and interventions.

Ruxandra Jianu

Ruxandra Jianu

Enterprise Support Coordinator

Ruxandra provides coordinated business start-up support to all our entire community, leads on the delivery of the Spark and Fuel programmes and helps guide Brookes founders towards scaling, growth and development by linking with external organisations.

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Caroline Hamilton

Enterprise Centre (ScaleBase) Manager

Caroline is responsible for the overall running of the Enterprise Centre (ScaleBase), our centre for offices, co-working space and meeting rooms. She organises a programme of events to attract potential tenants, attends regional networking events to highlight the advantages of the Centre and is developing an integrated strategy to ensure OBEC's success across both Scalebase and the Bioinnovation hub, the other arm of the enterprise Centre.

Nav Krishna Viswanathan

Nav Krishna Viswanathan

Enterprise Centre Assistant

Nav manages and plans the Centre’s marketing and operations, creating and sharing content such as infographics for its website and social media channels. He also generates invoices and processing payments for the Centre’s services, and oversees all administrative day to day tasks.