Conference Committee

The PraxisAuril Conference Committee is made up of volunteers from across the PraxisAuril membership, and is responsible for the design and delivery of the conference programme. The Committee Chair for 2022 is Shona Campbell, Associate Director, Knowledge Exchange, University of Brighton; Deputy Chair is Amanda Selvaratnam, Associate Director of Research and Enterprise and Head of Enterprise Services at the University of York.

Mrs. Amanda Selvaratnam
Chair
Associate Director Research Innovation and Knowledge Exchange, University of York
Biography

Amanda is Associate Director of Research Innovation and Knowledge Exchange at the University of York responsible for the strategic development of innovation and enterprise.

She has portfolio responsibility for enterprise development, consultancy, training and executive education, local and regional economic development, collaborative partnerships, commercialisation of the University’s intellectual property, business and incubation space and start-up support.

She has institutional responsibility for the KEF, KEC and HEIF.

Amanda is a PraxisAuril Board Member and a member of the #PrAConf23 Conference Committee.

Dr. Chris Hewson
Faculty Research Impact Manager (Social Sciences), University of York
Biography

Chris provides expert assistance to the University of York’s social sciences departments regarding all aspects of research impact, including but not limited to funding support, policy engagement, business engagement and commercialisation, public engagement, and Research Excellence Framework (REF) impact planning. He also manages York’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account and was central to the development of York’s public policy function, the York Policy engine (TYPE). At a national level, he is the current co-chair of the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN), and Chair of the Research England funded Aspect (A SHAPE Platform for Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Transformation) Operations Group.

Tim Brundle
Director of Research and Innovation, Ulster University
Biography

Timothy Brundle is Director of Research & Impact at Ulster University. Timothy directs Ulster’s research strategy, governance and administration, and guides its economic impact through knowledge exchange and intellectual property commercialisation. He also holds the position of Chief Executive of Innovation Ulster Ltd, Ulster’s venturing and investment company. As a Senior Leader at Ulster, Timothy directs a team of 90 research management professionals, an annual £15m research strategy budget and manages £1.5m of spend each week on research and innovation. Timothy has worked throughout his career in research-led organisations, with a focus on developing their customer-orientation, economic impact, business outcomes and shareholder value. He has led over £500m of research investment, established more than 40 high tech start up companies, secured over £450m of Venture Capital and ensured investor value from over £150m of company acquisitions and from a stock market floatation. He is an experienced and skilled member of the Board of both young companies and mature public Institutions, including serving as a Director of many of Ulster’s spin out companies, Invest NI, the UK Knowledge Transfer Network, and until 2022 served as Chair of Young Enterprise NI.

Dr. Shona Campbell
Knowledge Transfer Adviser, Innovate UK KTN
Biography

With a background in Plant Science and a career that started out in Agriculture Shona has been immersed in the world of Knowledge Exchange for over 15 years. Having previously been Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) Manager, and subsequently Associate Director of Knowledge Exchange at the University of Brighton, Shona moved to Innovate UK KTN, in summer 2022. In this role she advises businesses in London and the South East on innovation, and supports them to develop partnerships with academic institutions, with a focus on developing innovation projects that are awarded government funding through the KTP scheme to deliver economic, social, environmental and cultural impacts. The successful KTP scheme - a 3-way partnership model involving a business, an academic institution and a graduate who leads a strategic project for the business - has been running for almost 50 years. The role also involves supporting Knowledge Bases to optimise their capability to develop and nurture their relationships with businesses.

Shona is also a member of the #PrAConf23 Conference Committee

Mrs. Rachel Daley
Knowledge Exchange Manager, Digital Technologies, Royal Holloway, University of London
Biography
Dr. Rebecca Edwards
Head of Research Development & Delivery, SOAS University of London
Biography

I lead the Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team to work across BU through a series of corporate level initiatives designed to ensure our research activities are informed by society for the benefit of society. This role builds on my previous experience at BU as Public Engagement and Impact Manager/Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Manager.

My passion for research and knowledge exchange stems from my time as a researcher dating back over the last decade or so. After completing a BSc in Geography from Royal Holloway, University of London, at the same institution I was awarded an ESRC CASE Studentship to explore the impacts of public space policy – co-funded by Grosvenor Estates and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). This triggered my dual passions of understanding the impacts of national government policy at a localised level and how society engages within the public sphere. I was then appointed as a Research Associate at Cardiff University, first as part of the Regeneration Institute and latterly the Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research (WISERD). Here I had a diverse and varied role, working on multiple research and knowledge exchange projects – often at the same time!

Through funders including the ESRC and Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), I explored my passion for governance and policy through research into social housing, urban regeneration and safeguarding young people. After three years at Cardiff, I then spent the next three at University of Southampton as a Research Fellow within the Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC), funded by the ESRC, Office for Civil Society and Barrow Cadbury Trust. Here, I project managed a work stream of three interrelated projects which focused around the environment and the third sector.

Other interests include supporting local charities, having fun on the beach (and sometimes in the sea), walking (preferably up mountains), hanging out with my friends/family (one baby boy, one husband, one Jack Russell and two cats), experimenting with new recipes, going to gigs and trying to understand rugby.

Dr. Jeremy Hague
Director of Knowledge Exchange, Nottingham Trent University
Biography

As Director of Knowledge Exchange, Dr Jeremy Hague is responsible for connecting businesses and communities to the expertise, research and facilities of the University to grow the economy and enrich society.

His team supports the delivery and development the University’s “Start Up to Scale Up” business support programmes that provides expert advice to 700 SMEs a year seeking to innovate and grow. This work includes both commercial and publicly funded short courses and CPD that supports individuals and companies access high level skills.

Jeremy’s role also includes growing the University’s commercial services for business and the professions, and the management, protection and exploitation of the University’s Intellectual Property through licensing and spin out company creation.

In 2022, Jeremy founded NTU’s Institute for KE Practice (IKEP). Through workshops, CPD and good practice networks, IKEP builds capacity, evaluation and the dissemination of impactful KE from across the University.

Following a degree in clothing and textile management Jeremy undertook PhD research into new management practices in SMEs. Having worked as an academic researcher and business consultant at the start of his university career, Jeremy has been a knowledge exchange practitioner for twenty years.

Jeremy is also a member of the #PrAConf23 Conference Committee

Dr. Dan King
Director, Research Consulting
Biography

Dan is a Director at Research Consulting, a company specialising in working with clients in research environments. At Research Consulting, he has led and contributed to ~70 consultancy assignments for UK and international clients including universities, research funders, sector bodies and other organisations.
Dan is an experienced higher education professional with extensive business development experience in UK University research and innovation activity. He is experienced in the development, and implementation of strategies, for research, knowledge exchange and partnership-based activities as well as facilitating online training and workshops.
Dan’s experience includes senior research and KE leadership roles at the University of Nottingham (2001-2017) and Nottingham Trent University (2017-2018). He was a Director of the University of Nottingham Innovation Park and previously worked in research business development at the University of Warwick, and at supporting the allocation of research funding at EPSRC. He undertook post-doctoral research at the University of Brighton and has PhD from the University of Nottingham.

Yvonne Kinnaird
K E Policy & Outreach Manager, University of Strathclyde
Biography

Yvonne Kinnaird is Knowledge Exchange and Outreach Manager at the University of Strathclyde where she has worked in Research and KE Services for more than a decade. Responsible for reporting on KE activity, and monitoring it via the KE Concordat and both Scottish and UK returns, Yvonne is also responsible for the Outreach team who manage event programmes and outreach activity including award-winning programmes such as Engage with Strathclyde which aims to bring audiences onto campus, and Explorathon (a public engagement programme with Scottish universities to promote European Researchers Night).

In addition, Yvonne works with the Chairs of the CESAER (an association of Universities of Science and Technology in Europe) Task Force Innovation who contribute to current agendas emerging across Europe bringing together technology transfer managers with senior academic input.

Yvonne is also a member of the #PrAConf23 Conference Committee

Ms. Alicen Nickson
Director, Research and Innovation, Cranfield University
Biography

Alicen is an experienced leader and has worked in a range of roles in the Higher Education sector for almost 20 years. In her current role as Director of Research and Innovation at Royal Holloway, Alicen develops and delivers strategies for the generation of high quality research, knowledge exchange and commercialisation, and she leads the Research & Innovation Directorate. Alicen is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Research Management and Administration, the ARMA Stakeholder Engagement Committee. She is passionate about professional development and evidence informed practice, and has published in the wider research management field. Alicen studied International Relations and Social Anthropology at St. Andrews University, and was awarded an MBA from the University of Southampton and an MSc Social Research Methods from the Open University.

Miss. Rhian North
Technology Transfer Officer, Cardiff University
Biography

Rhian North is a Technology Transfer Officer within the Commercial Development Team at Cardiff University’s Research and Innovation Services. Rhian joined the team in 2014 as a Technology Transfer Project Officer and continues to works across the University’s Biomedical and Life Science College. As part of her role, Rhian is involved in the protection of University generated IP in addition to the translation and commercialisation of research output via licensing and/or the formation of spinout companies. Prior to her role at Cardiff Rhian worked for an SME

Pippa Peakman
Director of Research and Innovation, The University of Nottingham
Biography
Ms. Britta Wyatt
Managing Consultant, Oxentia Limited
Biography

Britta joined the Oxentia consulting team in 2013. Based out of Oxford, UK, Oxentia provides consultancy services, research, and training for HEIs and other organisations that support innovation, commercialisation and knowledge exchange.

Britta heads Oxentia’s Innovation Research and Strategy service line, where she has supported institutions in the UK and around the world to design, run, and evaluate innovation programmes. Some of her recent projects include logic modelling, impact evaluation, stakeholder engagement, and entrepreneurship training. She also supports institutions to develop their SHAPE commercialisation offerings, via the Aspect Network and through Oxentia’s own SHAPE services.

Before joining Oxentia, Britta worked in the IT sector in the US, and at Ireland’s National Digital Research Centre (NDRC), an award-winning early-stage accelerator.

Britta is a member of the #PrAConf23 Conference Committee.