About the Network

Sara is the Head of Researcher Development at the University of Edinburgh and leads on the University’s Concordat response. She has a particular interest in inclusive research cultures, collaboration and wellbeing.

As Director, Sara engages with our partner organisations and their broad range of networks, promoting the Future Leaders Fellows Development Network and our Fellows to global and national leaders in research and innovation.

Samantha is the Head of Interdisciplinary Development in the Horizons Institute at the University of Leeds and a panel member for Future Leaders Fellows. She has worked on development programmes for academics and research staff for over 20 years, but exploring disciplinary boundaries is her real passion.

Sam is a member of our Research & Innovation Environment Working Group.

Charlotte is an experienced and qualified people and project manager (PRINCE2 practitioner and MInstLM), having worked in the private sector, Further and Higher Education. She has managed a number of multi-million-pound research projects, developing a passion for supporting great research and great researchers. Having completed PGCerts in Counselling and in Higher Education Leadership and Management, Charlotte combines knowledge and practice (as an ILM practicing coach and mentor) with her desire to support others to develop and grow through mentoring, leadership, and training.

As the Partnership Manager for the Network’s multi-faceted mentoring scheme, Charlotte works with mentees and mentors daily. She is responsible for recruitment of the mentors and delivering the operational activity of the mentoring scheme.

Charlotte is a member of our Cohort Experience Working Group.

Kay is Head of Researcher Development at the University of Glasgow and an experienced mentoring consultant. She specialises in mentoring for academic leadership and research career development and is a Masters qualified accredited coach and mentor, and a National Teaching Fellow. Kay edits the Supervising PhDs blog.

As Mentoring Specialist, Kay has drawn on her experience and research in this area to design the Future Leaders Fellows Network’s suite of mentoring programmes. She leads on evaluation design for mentoring and, through this insight, contributes to the Network’s strategic decision making.

Kay is a member of our Cohort Experience Working Group.

Bridget has previously worked as Policy and Project Officer at the University of Edinburgh, developing research strategy with a focus on research culture. Prior to that she supported the development and communication of UK national policy, and has built relationships in HEIs and local and national governments across the UK.

As Community Manager, Bridget acts as a liaison between Fellows in the Network and our broad range of partners, acts as Chair of the Plus Fund Review Group, and contributes to the Network’s strategic decision making.

Bridget is Lead for our Cohort Experience Working Group.

Paul is a Learning & Development Consultant at Queen’s University Belfast, co-ordinating a range of development activities for research staff. He manages the Queen’s Fellowship Academy and supports mentoring across the University.

Udeni is an academic whose research focuses on applying race and gender theory to issues of social justice, entrepreneurship and innovation. She holds research posts at the University of Bristol and the University of Keele.

Udeni was a member of the feminist anti-racist collective Building the Anti-Racist Classroom from 2017-2019, and she has contributed to justice initatives such as the Race Equality Charter, student-led decolonisation work and organising with minoritised staff and students.

Barry is the Director of the Institute of Philosophy and its Centre for the Study of the Senses at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. He is the founding director of the Being Human Festival and since 2013 has been the AHRC’s Leadership Fellow for the Science in Culture Theme.

As lead on public engagement, Barry provides support for Fellows and identifies opportunities for them to engage the public with their research. He also helps to sustain and develop knowledge exchange relationships with the Network’s partners in other sectors to give Fellows the change to extend the impact of their research.

Barry is a member of our Research & Innovation Environment Working Group.

Tracey is a trainer, facilitator and certified professional coach, with over 20 years of experience that spans academia and research, public and private sector. She runs a successful consultancy, working across the UK and internationally, specialising in leadership coaching, training and development with researchers at all stages of their career, as well as their stakeholders and funders.

Her role in the Network is to work closely with Dr Steve Joy to provide a responsive and diverse programme of leadership training and events to meet the needs of emerging and future research leaders. This involves commissioning and curating online training, facilitating in-person leadership retreats and coordinating 1:1 coaching (including 360 feedback) for all the researchers in our network.

Tracey is Co-Lead of our Training & Development Working Group.

Cheryl is an experienced project manager with a background in economic development. She is well-versed in managing projects of all shapes and sizes, and having recently worked in research support, has had the opportunity to work with researchers at all career stages to secure funding for research projects.

As Project Manager for the Future Leaders Fellows Development Network, she is excited to combine her experience in project management with her knowledge of the research funding landscape to help maximise the opportunities for Fellows in the network.