Faculty Directors of Research and Innovation
The University's five Faculty Directors of Research and Innovation (DRIs) are responsible for developing and leading the implementation of the research, innovation and knowledge exchange strategy for their respective Faculty.
Working together and with the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Professor Richard Jones, and the Cross-cutting DRIs, they play an important role in promoting inter-departmental and inter-disciplinary research activity.
A key part of the role is to promote the faculty externally, making the most of external networks and working to raise the profile and esteem of their respective Faculty and its departments with external funders and Research Councils.
| Faculty | Director of Research and Innovation |
|---|---|
| Arts and Humanities | Professor Andrew Linn |
| Engineering | Professor Alex Pavic |
| Medicine, Dentistry and Health | Professor Paul Hellewell |
| Science | Professor Terry Burke |
| Social Sciences | Professor Martin Smith |
Cross-cutting Directors of Research and Innovation
The role of the University's three Cross-cutting Directors of Research and Innovation is to spearhead the development of a critical mass of research interests around a particular theme, inspiring and encouraging others to identify and apply for research and innovation funding.
| Theme | Director of Research and Innovation |
|---|---|
| Digital World | Professor Fabio Ciravegna |
| Energy and the Environment | Professor Steve Banwart |
| Healthcare across the Disciplines | Professor Rod Smalwood |
Arts and Humanities: Professor Andrew Linn
Andrew Linn is the Director of Research and Innovation for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
In 1997 he became a lecturer in the Department of English Language and Linguistics at the University of Sheffield. In 2002 Andrew was made senior lecturer and in 2003 was promoted to a chair in the history of linguistics.
Andrew's main interest is the issue of language standardisation. His research is currently devoted to making sense of recent events in Norwegian language politics and to issues of language reform more generally.
He is an elected member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Chair of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas, and a council member of The Philological Society. He is also a founding member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council peer review college and also of the Worldwide Universities Network history of linguistics group.
As Director of Research and Innovation for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Andrew is working closely with the Humanities Research Institute, other research centres and clusters within the Faculty and is closely supported by the Research and Innovation Services Faculty facing team.
- Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities
- Professor Linn's staff page (with contact details)
Science: Professor Terry Burke
Terry Burke is the Director of Research and Innovation for the Faculty of Science.
After being made Professor of Molecular Biology in 1997, he moved to the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield.
Terry's current research focuses on mating systems and sexual selection, ecological and evolutionary genetics and molecular and quantitative genetics in birds. Since 1989 he has authored over 180 research papers.
In 1992 Terry co-founded the journal Molecular Ecology, and since 2000 he has been on the Editorial Review Boards for Conservation Genetics and the Journal of Animal Ecology. Terry has sat on a number of NERC and DEFRA panels and committees, and is Head of Service for the NERC Molecular Genetics Facility, based at the University of Sheffield.
- Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Science
- Professor Burke's staff page (with contact details)
Medicine, Dentistry and Health: Professor Paul Hellewell
Paul Hellewell is the Director of Research and Innovation for the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health.
He took up his current post as Chair of Vascular Biology at the University of Sheffield Medical School in 1998.
Paul's current research centres on leukocyte endothelial transmigration, the biology of selectins and selectin ligands and trafficking of endothelial cell progenitors.
As Director of Research and Innovation for the Faculty of Medicine, Paul provides leadership in research and supports the development of management information, key performance indicators and benchmarks to evaluate and increase research performance.
A key part of Paul's role is to promote the faculty externally, making the most of external networks, especially with regard to NHS R&D colleagues and NHS funding opportunities.
- Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health
- Professor Hellewell's staff page (with contact details)
Social Sciences: Professor Martin Smith
Martin Smith is the Director of Research and Innovation for the Faculty of Social Sciences.
He was appointed to the Department of Politics at the University of Sheffield in 1990, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1995 and Professor in 1998. He was Head of Department from 2001 to 2005.
Martin's main research interests are in British Politics and Public Policy. In particular he is interested in the reform of the state, policy networks and policy making, the changing nature of central government and the Labour Party. Currently he is investigating the changing role of the state in the twenty-first century, and how the state is reacting to the impact of globalisation and governance and developing new mechanisms for imposing state power.
In 2004 he was appointed Editor (with Matthew Festenstein) of the journal Political Studies.
- Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Social Sciences
- Professor Smith's staff page (with contact details)
Engineering: Professor Alex Pavic
Professor Aleksandar Pavic is the Director of Research and Innovation for the Faculty of Engineering.
Alex received his PhD degree from the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering at the University of Sheffield in 1999 and five years later became Professor of Vibration Engineering just before the award of a prestigious 5-year Advanced Research Fellowship funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). He founded and leads the Vibration Engineering Section within the Department, comprised of four academics, support staff and up to a dozen researchers. His team has a world-class reputation in vibration performance of large as-built civil engineering structures and leads the UK academic sector in this area.
In his role as Managing Director of Full Scale Dynamics Ltd, a University of Sheffield spin-off company, Alex facilitates the transfer of knowledge and innovation into the commercial sector. His many professional commitments also include industry-related applied research and consultancy with over 80 blue-chip companies. He publishes widely and has authored a number of key UK and international civil structural engineering design guidelines relevant to human-induced dynamic loading indicating his high standing in the profession.
Prior to this role Alex has also been first Director of Research (2009/10) and then Deputy Head of the Department (2010/11). He is a member of EPSRC College and one of three UK academics invited to participate in the seminal 2010 EPSRC Review of Ground and Structural Engineering research in the UK. As Faculty Director he facilitates and stimulates the research and innovation activities of over 200 academics in 7 departments, generating an annual research income in excess of £30M.
- Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Engineering
- Professor Pavic's staff page (with contact details)
Healthcare across the Disciplines: Professor Rod Smallwood
Rod Smallwood is the Cross-cutting Director of Research and Innovation for Healthcare across the Disciplines.
He worked for twenty five years in the NHS developing instrumentation for non-invasive physiological measurement and setting up patient services, and was elected to a Personal Chair in Medical Engineering in 1995. In 1996 he moved to the University of Sheffield as Head of Medical Physics and Engineering. He moved to Computer Science as Professor of Computational Biology in 2003, and was Director of Research for Engineering from 2003 to 2008.
His current research interests are in the computational modelling of development, wound healing and malignancy in epithelial tissues.
Rod was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2001 and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 2002. He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, the Institute of Physics, and a Fellow of and past-President of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.
Digital World: Professor Fabio Ciravegna
Fabio Ciravegna is the Cross-cutting Director of Research and Innovation for the Digital World.
He joined the Department of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield in 2000, was awarded his Professorship in 2003 and became the Head of the Organisation, Information and Knowledge (Oof AK) Group in 2008.
His research spans a broad spectrum, including knowledge management, semantic web, human-computer interaction and human language technologies. With extensive experience of managing large research projects, he is the Director of the EU Integrated Project X-Media on Large Scale Knowledge Management across Media (including 15 partners, 70 researchers and a €13.6M budget).
As Cross-cutting Director of Research and Innovation for the Digital World, Fabio's role is to consider the technological, economic and social implications of a world in which information processing is cheap, powerful and ubiquitous. His work addresses the RCUK cross-council priority area "Digital Economy" and the TSB challenge area "Living in an intelligent connected modern world".
Energy and the Environment: Professor Steve Banwart
Steve Banwart is the Cross-cutting Director of Research and Innovation for Energy and the Environment.
He joined the department of Department of Civil and Structural Engineering at the University of Sheffield in 1995, and was promoted to Professor of Environmental Engineering Science in 2002. At Sheffield he has developed an internationally recognised track record in reactive processes in soil and groundwater.
Steve's portfolio of UK grants and contracts totals ~£3M in the areas of soil and groundwater chemistry and biodegradation science. He currently leads the development of a new cross-faculty programme on Cell-Mineral Interface Research, with a grant portfolio of over £6M and approximately 20 academics, 17 PhD students and 13 researcher staff working at the interface between pure sciences and engineering application. Steve is co-author of a leading international textbook on mine water pollution and has authored over 100 publications in Science and Engineering literature.
Among his many professional commitments, Steve is a Member of NERC and EPSRC peer-review colleges, a Member of Council, European Association of Geochemistry and a Member of the UK Nanotechnologies Environmental Risk Assessment Task Force.