Anouska Nithyanandan - Head of Research Development

Anouska joined Research and Innovation in May 2017. She offers LSE academics strategic advice and support to develop successful research proposals that secure grant funding from a range of UK and international funders.

Anouska’s first-hand experience of academia gives her a valuable insight into what it takes to translate great research ideas into highly successful grant applications.

Anouska has a first class MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering and Business Management from the University of Warwick, and a PhD in Biomaterials Engineering from University College London.

Prior to joining LSE, Anouska worked as an academic at UCL where she sourced and secured significant grant funding for her own research and that of her team, and worked alongside academic partners and industry to build collaborative research projects. She is therefore particularly interested in high impact interdisciplinary research that draws together social science with STEM subjects, as well as supporting early career researchers with their first grant applications. 

Gwen Cheve - Research Development Manager 

Gwen joined Research and Innovation (R&I) in April 2023 as a Research Development Manager. In this role she provides strategic support and advice to academics so that they can develop their research ideas into distinct and fundable projects.

Gwen has a PhD in Politics and International Studies (feminist security studies and post conflict reconstruction) which she studied at the University of Warwick. She has a background in Anthropology and Political Science (BSc) and International Development: Conflict, Security and Development (MSc).

Prior to working in R&I, she worked at the University of Warwick as a Research Development Officer initially providing research development support to the Faculty of Social Science and then co-managing the institutional Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). Gwen has also worked at the University of Oxford as a Research Facilitator at the Department of Sociology supporting academic and research staff in securing funding for their research projects.

Julia Howse - Research Development Manager

As Research Development Manager, Julia's role includes supporting academic colleagues in developing and submitting research proposals.

Prior to joining LSE, she worked at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and at King’s College London, supporting research applications in a number of fields. Her earlier experience includes supporting the basic science funding committees at the Wellcome Trust.

Barbara Kolaric - Research Development Manager

Barbara joined Research and Innovation in August 2019, as the Committees and Governance Manager in the Division’s Policy Team. In that role, she was primarily responsible for coordinating activities and meetings of the School’s Research Committee, its working groups and sub-committees, while supporting the Research Development Team (RDT) part-time. Her role with RDT became full-time in March 2022 and she became Research Development Manager in July 2023.

Prior to joining LSE, she worked as Policy Manager for the American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia, and has held various positions in the Croatian public administration in the area of research and innovation policy, planning of calls and evaluation of innovative projects to be funded using EU Structural and Investment Funds and grant funding of technology transfer activities at Croatian universities.

She is also an LSE graduate, having completed the MSc in Politics and Government in the European Union at the European Institute in 2013.

Aygen Kurt-Dickson - Research and Innovation Strategy Manager

Aygen has a PhD in Innovation Studies (a multidisciplinary field of sociology, politics and STS) which she studied as a Jean Monnet scholar, partially funded by the European Commission. She has a background in Political Science and Public Administration (BSc) and Science and Technology Policy Studies (MSc).

Before joining LSE, she worked part-time as a research support officer, and as research fellow in an EU FP7 project researching on ethical/social implications and governance of technological development process.

Her research interests on the EU’s research and innovation policy, innovation governance, the formation of the European Research Area, and how socio-political integration can be enhanced via innovation activity at sectoral and national levels, led her to engage more with research funding in a wider context of policy landscape.

Connect with Aygen on LinkedIn.

Chelsea Oware - Research Development Administrator

Chelsea supports the Team's Research Development and Grant Application Managers across various areas including Philosophy, Psychology, Mathematics and European Institute.

Chelsea has an MSc in Social Research Methods from LSE and a BA in Politics and International Relations from the University of Nottingham. She has a range of passions and interests from intersectional feminism, academic decolonisation and social movement theory, to musical theatre, visual arts and 90s RnB and Hip Hop. In her free time, Chelsea is a visual artist interested in abstract artwork.

Prior to joining LSE’s Research Development Team, Chelsea worked as a researcher at Executive Search firm Odgers Berndtson in the Higher Education practice, learning the ins and outs of the Higher Education landscape from an external perspective. She has also worked with organisations such as the Electoral Reform Society, UNESCO and the Centre for African Studies in Turin.

Henna Patel - Research Development Manager

Henna joined LSE in December 2022 as a Research Development Manager. This role builds on her previous experience working in research development at the University of Westminster and the University of Reading. Henna has also worked as a Policy Manager at the Economic and Social Research Council, giving her a unique insight into the way funders work. Henna maintains a keen interest in politics, since completing an MA in European Politics and a BA in Political Science and Philosophy. 

Dorota Rejman - Grant Applications Manager

Dorota joined Research and Innovation in 2007. She holds an Msc in International Finance and Accounting from LSE and is a qualified accountant. She excels in supporting LSE faculty in their pursuit of funding in the UK and internationally, providing an interface between applicants and funders throughout the contractual development. Dorota has extensive experience in managing complex and informational projects for a variety of major funders such as UKRI, the European Commission, DfID and Deutsche Bank.

EU research and innovation policy, challenges affecting research funding in general and in exploring novel means of sharing good practice are among Dorota’s current interests. In May 2021 she presented at INORMS (Hiroshima) on how universities can demonstrate to funders their capacity to govern and administer research effectively. 

Nathalie Van-der-Elst - Research Development Manager

Nathalie joined Research and Innovation (R&I) in October 2020. She provides strategic support and guidance for LSE faculty by facilitating and developing research grant opportunities to secure UK and international funding.

Nathalie completed a MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies from LSE and received her BA in International Relations from Boston University. Her interests include gender justice and care work.

Prior to working in R&I, Nathalie worked in Philanthropy and Global Engagement (PaGE) at LSE where she managed a diverse portfolio cultivating mutually beneficial relationships with UK and international trusts and foundations and the School. 

Kerry Hocken - Research Accountant and Head of Research Awards 

Kerry joined LSE in 1990 and after an 18 month stint in Finance Division she moved to what was the Research and Consultancy Office. Kerry has seen Research and Innovation grow from a small team of 6 looking after research awards with annual income in the region of £4m to a team with 30 members of staff and research income in excess of £30m.

Since 1996 Kerry has been the LSE’s Research Accountant and later took full line management responsibility for the Research Awards Team. Kerry is responsible for the School’s research and accounting procedures and processes, providing guidance for the Research and Innovation and the School on research related finance, resource and accounting matters.

She is also responsible for managing and producing the HEFCE 10 year forecasts, year-end returns and HESA Financial Statistical returns in relation to research grant income and the financial data for REF.  

Kerry is committed to ensuring that the Research Awards Team strives towards providing exceptional service delivery and support to the LSE research community, helping to contribute towards the success of the School’s research. 

Fatima Arshad - Research Awards Manager

Fatima joined Research and Innovation in February 2023 as a Research Awards Manager, having completed her MA in Social Development from the University of Sussex.

Before pursuing her postgraduate degree in the UK, she served as a counsellor in the Student Affairs Department at Nixor College, Pakistan, where she had direct interactions with students and facilitated communication between various departments including the Dean's Office.

Fatima has also gained valuable skills in management and leadership through her diverse professional background.

Nazifa Azad - Research Awards Admin Assistant

Nazifa joined Research and Innovation in August 2023 having completed her BSc in International Relations at LSE. As an Administrative Assistant, she provides administrative and organisational support to the Research Awards Managers across a wide range of the Team's activities.

Alistair Brown - Research Awards Manager

Alistair joined LSE Research and Innovation in January 2023 as Research Awards Manager, supporting several academic units in the management of their research projects.

Alistair has over 8 years experience of working in the Higher Education Sector, at the Universities of Huddersfield, Leeds and Bradford, in both pre and post award roles as well as working in central finance.  Alistair has a degree in Accounting, as well as being part qualified ACCA.

Catherine Cunningham - Research Finance Manager 

Catherine joined LSE in September 2023 to take up one of the new Research Finance Manager positions in the Research and Innovation Division, supporting the Research Accountant. Her remit is to help departments and centres manage their research grant portfolios, with a particular emphasis on financial management.

She has previously worked at a number of prestigious research-focussed organisations including the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute (now part of the Francis Crick Institute), the Alan Turing Institute and Imperial College London. As a consequence, Catherine has extensive experience of dealing with funders such as the European Commission and the UKRI Research Councils amongst others.

Passionate about research, Catherine started her career as a research scientist with a PhD from UCL before leaving lab work to move into research administration and re-training as a CIMA chartered accountant. 

Jane Ellison - Research Finance Manager

Jane supports a broad portfolio of research awards for the School’s academic research community. She has various background experience which includes scientific training, industrial research leadership, management within small business and self-employment.

With her skills and attributes, Jane underpins LSE by ensuring an optimum use of project resource which enables the academic research community to achieve the best results from grant awards.

Natalie Hua - Research Awards Manager

Natalie joined LSE Research and Innovation in June 2020 as Research Awards Manager, supporting several research centres and academic departments in the management of their research projects. Prior to that she worked for Toyota Financial Services, Australia. Natalie has a Bachelor of Commerce, Majors: Finance and International Commerce from Monash University.

Benjamin Nevius - Research Finance Manager

Benjamin joined LSE in 2008, becoming Research Finance Manager in July 2023.

He helps departments and centres manage their research grant portfolios, provides training and support to his colleagues on the team, and assists the research accountant with her duties. He has experience working with all types of funders including the European Commission and Research Councils. 

Prior to joining LSE, he worked for over four years on the Pre-Award team of the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Sponsored Projects, helping staff from the National Museum of Natural History locate funding opportunities and prepare and submit grant proposals, with emphasis on proposals to the National Science Foundation.

Before that, Benjamin worked at the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory services where he managed contracts for a government-funded juvenile delinquency prevention programme. 

He has a master's degree in social work from the University of Texas at Austin with a specialisation in non-profit administration and planning.

Sofia Pavlaki - Research Awards Manager

Sofia joined LSE Research and Innovation in August 2023 as a Research Awards Manager, supporting several research centres and academic departments in the management of their research projects.

Before joining LSE Sofia was working as a co-ordinator in Film, TV and Advertising. She has extensive experience in finance management for big TV Productions and Commercials.

Prior to that, Sofia worked in the Health Sector after completing an MSc degree from Oxford Brookes University in 2015.

Edward Perrin - Research Awards Manager

Edward joined Research and Innovation as a Research Awards Manager in August 2021. He previously worked as the Administrator: Finance, Projects and Facilities for 3 years supporting the LSE Department of Mathematics in its financial and operational processes.

Prior to this, Edward worked for the University of Cambridge Biomedical Services and Division of Anaesthesia in a financial and operational capacity. 

Edward has a BSc (Hons) Degree in International Management from Anglia Ruskin University, which included a year studying at the Hogeschool Zuyd (Maastricht) as part of the Erasmus programme. He has a PRINCE2 qualification and is working towards a CIMA professional qualification.

Valeria Scacchi - Research Awards Manager

Valeria joined LSE as a Research Awards Manager in May 2023. She has extensive skills in grant administration specialising in the charity and academic sector. She worked for the University of Roehampton in various roles for over seven years and is experienced in designing impact studies for deep analysis of charitable activities.

Valeria was awarded a PhD by the University of Roehampton in 2022 with a thesis titled: “Reconceptualising professional learning and development through a Froebelian lens: Early Childhood educators’ perspectives on professional identities in the UK and Italy”. Her research is concerned with a reconceptualisation of professional development for educators in early childhood education and care and aims at developing and promoting an alternative approach to professional development and learning that is situated in the Froebelian tradition.

Valeria has experience in the academic field as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Roehampton and supported the Early Childhood Research Centre as a Research Officer for several years. 

Deborah Tupou  - Research Awards Admin Assistant 

Deborah joined LSE in February 2023. Educated in New Zealand at Epsom Girls Grammar, she has over 30 years experience in Administration working in both non-profit organisations and the private sector.

Deborah has also studied at Massey University in social work, community health and psychology. Her working career has mainly been in social services, councils, health, and government.

Agnes Yung- Research Awards Manager

Agnes joined Research and Innovation as Research Awards Manager in January 2023. She previously worked as Student Research Assistant in the Department of Art History at University of Göttingen in Germany, providing support in course preparation and research projects.

Prior to that, she worked for various organisations in the arts sector in Hong Kong, including a governmental museum office, a charity and a statutory funding body. Agnes has a master's degree in Art History from University of Göttingen.

Jo Hemmings - Head of Research Governance and Culture

Jo oversees the work of the Research Governance and Culture Team, which broadly focuses on supporting the research environment for academic colleagues.  She manages the School's submission to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) on behalf of the REF Strategy Committee and supports the team’s work on research ethics, research integrity and knowledge exchange and impact (KEI). 

Jo joined Research and Innovation in 2000 and has overseen the School’s submissions to four national research exercises to date.  Jo has a BA in English from the University of Liverpool and an MA in Renaissance Studies from Birkbeck.

Myriam Fellous-Sigrist - Research Ethics Officer 

Myriam supports the work of the Research Ethics Committee and the Research Governance Manager. She oversees research ethics applications submitted to the Research Ethics Committee for review and supports researchers, students and colleagues in other professional services divisions.

Myriam joined Research and Innovation in 2022. She has a PhD in Digital Humanities from King’s College London; her thesis analysed the ethical and legal impact of digital technologies on audiovisual archives, with a focus on oral history collections.

She previously worked at the British Library, providing copyright and data protection support for a large sound heritage project. Before that she worked at University College London Library where she helped research staff and students navigate expectations around research data management, research ethics and funders’ data sharing policies.

Lyn Grove - Research Governance Manager

Lyn assists the Research Governance and Impact Team in matters regarding research governance with particular reference to research ethics and (mis)conduct.

She provides advice and support on the School’s research ethics procedures and supports the work of the Research Ethics Committee. She plays a key role in ensuring that the School’s research ethics policy reflects sector-wide good practice. She also supports the School’s research ethics training and development activities.

Lyn has been at LSE since 2001. For many years she was the centre manager of the Centre for the Analysis of Time Series.

Lyn has a PhD from the UCL Institute of Education. Her thesis examined the effects of funding policies on academic research.

Casimira Headley-Walker - Committees and Governance Manager

Casimira manages the School’s Research Committees, including the Research Committee, REFSC, and KEFSC, scheduling, writing and receiving reports, and preparing minutes. She also runs Research Centre Reviews for the School, as well as dealing with committee related questions.

She joined the School from Birkbeck, where she is currently completing an MA in Historical Research.

Wendy Leung - REF Support Manager

Wendy joined Research and Innovation in February 2019 as REF Support Manager, co-ordinating the REF 2021 submission with a focus on the technical aspects of REF requirements and an oversight of the equality, diversity and inclusivity analyses in relation to REF 2021. She will continue to provide advice and training across the School in preparation for its submission to the next REF.

She has diverse experience in enabling research and researchers in the higher education sector. This includes several years in medical research and academic publishing as managing editor for a large portfolio of Psychology journals at Routledge, followed by some time at both KCL and UCL supporting research strategy across the life and medical sciences.

Amanda Burgess - Head of Systems and Operations

Amanda is responsible for developing and maintaining supported and effective systems and data that underpin the LSE-wide research lifecycle and LSE 2030 Research for the World strategy, and support evidence-based decision making for funded research activity, innovation activities, and research impact. She oversees operations across the division and plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the division optimises its functioning in a blended working environment. 

She has worked in Research and Innovation since 1993, undertaking various roles including head of the Research Awards Team and a four-year secondment to LSE Enterprise. She has a strong commitment to customer service and service delivery, and providing infrastructure and tools to enable staff to efficiently perform their roles.

Charlotte Creamore - Research Development Administrative Assistant

Charlotte joined LSE Research and Innovation in August 2022 having completed an MA in English Literature at UCL and receiving a first class BA from the University of Warwick. Throughout her four years at university, she has contributed to a number of higher education projects, working alongside organisations such as The Sutton Trust and The National Literacy Trust. 

Jay Riedel - Administrative Assistant

Jay joined the team in 2022. Since graduating from a Business degree Jay has worked in various administrative roles for private companies such as Close Brothers Group.

Crispin Williams - Research Systems Manager

Crispin joined Research and Innovation in late 2018. He is the system administrator and expert user for Pure and provides first line support for all Research and Innovation systems.

Before joining the team, Crispin spent a number of years working for the NHS and has provided support in the implementation of various online systems to provide greater automation and improve management information within a corporate setting.

Nicholas Ansell – Impact Monitoring Officer

Nicholas also sits within our Research Governance and Impact Team. View his bio here.

Mariane Bignotto - R&I Funds Officer

Mariane joined LSE as R&I Funds Officer in September 2023 to implement activities related to hypothecated funding and major research and innovation projects, whilst supporting the progress of funded strategic projects to ensure they are delivered within the time and budget allocated. As part of the Evidence and Analysis Team, she will continuously monitor the effectiveness of internal funding schemes to ensure they are meeting or exceeding their expected purpose.

Mariane worked as a project coordinator for bioinformatics research at LSHTM and prior to that was the Executive Assistant for the Research PVC at the University of Westminster. Mariane has over 8 years of experience in research project management and a proven track record of overseeing research milestones, liaising with external stakeholders or partners and ensuring project activities are on track and auditable.

She supported the last REF submission, overseeing and advising on the progress of impact case studies and strategic output targets. Her strengths are facilitating discussions amongst a diverse range of researchers whilst building partnerships with collaborators and funders, and ensuring research projects are meeting expected targets.

Mariane has a keen interest in public policy and language usage, human-computer interactions and bias in algorithms. She is a graduate of linguistics, with further graduate training in social policy, data analysis and programming. 

Christopher Daley - R&I Evidence Manager

Chris joined LSE in September 2023. His role involves gathering evidence on the internal and external R&I landscape and producing reports, briefings and presentations which will inform strategic decision making and contribute to LSE fulfilling the objectives of the Research for the World strategy.

Chris holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Westminster and originally worked in academia before moving into research management. He previously worked at Brunel University London and Royal Holloway in a variety of roles which involved research information management, open scholarship advocacy, research development, and the implementation of strategic research programmes. In 2022, Chris founded the Engaged Humanities Lab at Royal Holloway, an initiative that created diverse partnerships between academia, the heritage sector and local industry as well as being a vehicle for promoting the societal value of arts and humanities research.

Chris is an active member of ARMA and a mentor for the ARMA/AHRC/RLUK Research Catalyst Programme.