Vanessa Cuthill

Sussex has appointed Vanessa Cuthill as its new Director of Research and Enterprise.

Vanessa, currently Director of Research at The British Academy, will be joining Sussex on 1st September 2022.

She will bring a wealth of experience to Sussex as she currently has leadership responsibility for c£40 million programme of research funding and international funding and engagement at the British Academy.

Vanessa joins Sussex at an exciting time, following the Times Higher Education (THE) ranking Sussex 27th of all UK institutions for both ‘Research Power' and 'Market Share' - based on its analysis of the REF 2021 results.

As Director of Research and Enterprise she be working closely with Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, Keith Jones, supporting the co-creation of the University’s research and enterprise strategy in line with Sussex 2025 and our research with impact ambitions.

Vanessa said: “Joining Sussex at a time when they are fresh from achieving such recognition for their world-leading research work is very exciting. I’ve had the opportunity to meet some of the team already and I can see there is huge passion and commitment at Sussex.

“Sussex has such a great reputation as a research-intensive university, and I will be focusing on how we can build on that.“

Tim Westlake, Chief Operating Officer and member of UEG, will have line management responsibility for Vanessa. He said: “Vanessa will be a great addition to the Professional Services Leadership Team and has an impressive background in the higher education sector, in research funding strategy and policy, and embedding equality and diversity into research. We are looking forward to her joining Sussex in time for the next academic year and develop our plans for growth, improvement and focus on research and enterprise activities.”

In her extensive career, Vanessa has also been Director of Research and Enterprise at the University of Essex, and was Deputy Director, Evidence, Impact and Strategic Partnerships at the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC – UKRI).

Following the departure of Sue Angulatta, in April 2022, Emma Potts has been leading the R&E Division on an interim basis and will remain in post until Vanessa join us in September.