Our team

The PhD Academy is open Monday-Friday, 10.00-16.00. We are  closed for lunch between 12.30 and 13.30.

If you need to complete enrolement/ re-enrolment, collect an ID card or require our office to complete a railcard application form (or similar) then please submit a query using this link.

Confidential and 1-2-1 advice will continue to be available remotely and will not be available face to face. Should you wish to speak to a member of the team, please submit a query briefly outlining what you wish to discuss, stating your availability and whether you prefer to use Teams or Zoom.

Please bring along photo ID when collecting your student ID card.  Information on what documents you need to bring along with you for enrolment/ re-enrolment can be found here. Please ensure you have the correct documentation with you as otherwise we cannot complete enrolment/ re-enrolment. 

You can still  submit an enquiry or email phdacademy@lse.ac.uk to contact the team

The PhD Academy Team 

Professor Bingchun Meng
Director, PhD Academy and LSE ESRC Doctoral Training Centre

You can contact Bingchun to discuss any aspect of your experience as a PhD student. Email her at b.meng@lse.ac.uk to arrange a virtual or in person meeting.

Dr Maria-Christina Vogkli
Research Officer in Business Outreach

Dr Pete Mills
PhD Academy Manager

Pete is available to provide support and advice on all aspects of your PhD journey. To speak to Pete, please feel either to email, or book into Office hours via StudentHub

Matthew Brack
PhD Academy Assistant Director

Lydia Hatton Baldwin
Research Degrees Officer 

Matt and Lydia provide advice on all aspects of your enrolment and progression

Loraine Evans
Events and Communications Manager

Faith Langley
Events and Communications Officer

Loraine and Faith look after the training programme and send out regular communications

Kirsty Rawlings
Research Partnerships Manager

TBC
Research Partnerships Officer

Kirsty and RPO provides support to students funded by the ESRC and AHRC

More information about the Team

Professor Bingchun Meng

Director, PhD Academy and LSE ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership
b.meng@lse.ac.uk

I am a Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE, where I also co-direct the LSE-Fudan Global Public Policy Research Centre. My research interests include political economy of media industries, communication governance, gender and the media, and comparative media studies. I am mainly concerned with how institutional forces shape media and communication, and how communicative activities and digital technologies are implicated in the formation of culture, identity and political engagement. Focusing on China as my main empirical site, I aim to advance related academic debates by historicising and retheorising state-market and state-society relations in non-liberal contexts through the lens of media and communication.  

At the LSE, I have supervised many Media and Communication PhD students; this is the aspect of my academic job that I enjoy the best, because that is how I learn the most. As Director of the PhD Academy, I have responsibility for enhancing the PhD research environment, for overseeing the activities of the Academy’s team, and for liaising with funders. In addition, I have the privilege of meeting and exchanging ideas with PhD students from across the School. 

Dr Maria-Christina Vogkli
Research Officer in Business Outreach
m.vogkli@lse.ac.uk

After completing a PhD in Sociology at LSE, I joined the PhD Academy to manage and oversee the SPRING initiative. With a strong focus on industry and business, SPRING aims at bridging the gap between academia and other sectors. My role involves developing collaborations between PhD researchers and non-academic organisations and supporting students interested in exploring professional and research opportunities outside academia through developmental and work-based learning activities.

During my PhD, I worked in various teaching and research positions in different Departments and Divisions of the School, such as the Sociology and the Management Departments, Executive Education, LSE Life and the Eden Centre. Outside academia, I have worked as a freelance Research and Policy Consultant. I am also an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dr Pete Mills
PhD Academy Manager
p.b.mills@lse.ac.uk

I’m always keen to meet and talk with students. To contact me, please email me, or to book into my monthly office hours via StudentHub. If my office hours won’t work, for you, please email me directly and we can arrange an ad hoc meeting.

My role is to lead the PhD Academy professional staff team, oversee all PhD Academy operations, work with the Director of the PhD Academy, the Chair of the Research Degrees Sub-Committee and the Pro-Director for Research in developing and implementing strategy and policy relating to postgraduate research (PGR) students, and in representing PGR interests in committees and working groups across the University. I joined the LSE after managing the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Safe and Trusted Artificial Intelligence, a collaboration between King's College London and Imperial College London. Before this, I worked at the LSE in research degree programme management, and have also worked previously for the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes, where I completed my PhD.

Matthew Brack
PhD Academy Assistant Director
m.brack@lse.ac.uk

I graduated with a BSc (Hons) degree in Chemistry in 1993. I joined LSE in 1997 and have been Assistant Director of the PhD Academy  since its inception in 2016. Prior to this I was Deputy Manager of the Research Degrees Unit. I advise staff and students on all aspects of research degree procedures and regulations including the MPhil/PhD examination process, registration, appeals, tuition fees, and complex cases.

I also compile statistics and data for internal and external purposes, for instance the School's submission and completion rates, REF student data and ESRC/AHRC submission rate surveys.  I am also the Secretary of the Doctoral Programme Directors Forum.

Lydia Hatton Baldwin
Research Degrees Officer 
L.Hatton-Baldwin@lse.ac.uk / submit an enquiry  

I graduated with an MA by research in Music in early 2019 from the University of Huddersfield, where I also completed my BA (Hons) in Music with English Literature. After submitting my thesis in 2018 I started working in the Student Wellbeing Service at the University of Greenwich before starting at LSE as Postgraduate Programmes Administrator in the Department of Health Policy. I am now working in the PhD Academy under a secondment to experience LSE from a different perspective, and will be returning to my substantive role in the summer of 2024.

As Research Degrees Officer my main responsibilities include supporting research students with queries related to their PhD programmes, administering examinations and advising students and staff on all elements of PGR registration and examinations.

Loraine Evans
Events and Communications Manager
l.evans1@lse.ac.uk 

I graduated, as a mature student, with a BA (Hons) in English in 2005 and joined LSE in 2011 from the London Business School. I spent a year with the Department of Mathematics as their Research Administrator and joined the the Research Degrees Unit in April 2012.

I have been with the PhD Academy since its inception in 2016. I support the  Director of the PhD Academy in the administration and development of the events programme for PhD Students. I am responsible for developing networks with partner institutions alongside managing communications across a range of media. 

Faith Langley
Events and Communications Officer
F.Langley@lse.ac.uk  / submit an enquiry  

I graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical science in 2013 from Kingston University. Prior to joining the LSE in 2016 I worked at Kingston University looking after MSc students in Engineering.  I am responsible for our webpages, communications and social media feeds and support the running of the PhD Academy events programme. Alongside this I support the Research Partnerships Manager when required. 

Kirsty Rawlings
Research Partnerships Manager
k.rawlings@lse.ac.uk  

I graduated with a BA (Hons) in History in 1993. I joined LSE in 2014 as Senior Administrator to the Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) having previously worked in the voluntary, education and public sectors in contract compliance and administration.

I have been with the PhD Academy since its inception in 2016. I manage processes to ensure compliance with ERSC reporting and accreditation requirements.  As the LSE ESRC nominated contact I am responsible for developing relationships with the wider DTP network.  I also provide advice, guidance and support to students, academics and administrative staff on key Research Council initiatives, workshops, conferences and events.  I am the lead for the LSE DTP Training Needs Analysis and the ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships recruitment processes.

TBC
Research Partnerships Officer

I assist in providing advice, guidance and support to students, academics and administrative staff on key Research Council initiatives, workshops, conferences and events. I also provide support to the Research Partnerships Manager with the the ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships recruitment processes.