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Professor Jeremy Niven

The University has appointed Professor Jeremy Niven as the inaugural Dean of the Doctoral School.

Jeremy is Professor of Zoology in the School of Life Sciences, where he has worked since 2011.

In this new role he will report into Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise) Professor Keith Jones and will provide strategic academic leadership on all Postgraduate Research Student matters at the University and across all Schools – from recruitment and induction to graduation and beyond.

The Dean will be the Chair of the Doctoral School Board and will work closely with all senior office holders, and academic and support divisions with a stake in the PGR student experience.

Keith said: “This is an incredibly important role to enable the growth in PGR student numbers, enhancing the quality of research degrees programmes. It was appropriate we created the role of Dean to highlight how important an area this is – as it requires the highest level of leadership.

“I want to thank Professor George Kemenes who has led the Doctoral School as Director since 2016 and shown enormous commitment and dedication over the past five years.

“We are really proud of our doctoral students who play a critical role in teaching our undergraduate students and who are at the heart of research efforts. I believe Jeremy will be able to bring his passion and experience, working with the rest of the management team.”

Jeremy, who takes up his position on 1 September added: “I am looking forward to working closely with postgraduate research students, academic and professional services colleagues, and members of the Doctoral School. I want to build on the great work of the Doctoral School to date, which is so vital for us as a research-intensive university. The role is a great opportunity to enhance our postgraduate research students’ experiences.”