Tina Lehmbeck, Research Management Subject Matter Expert in the Research & Innovation Services Division, recently took home the Institutional Improvement and Transformation award at the Sussex Awards 2025. Tina was recognised for her efforts in implementing Worktribe, the University’s new Research Management System (RMS) which supports our research aims and helps us deliver our Research with Impact strategy. We hear more from Tina about what inspires her about her role and how getting creative helps her to relax away from work.

What I’ve really loved about my role on the RMS project is working with so many different people across the University who are involved in research - from senior leaders to Principal Investigators, Finance and Library staff - figuring out how we could configure the Worktribe system to meet their needs. My input has been on the business side, having worked in research development and systems development in a few institutions. The RMS project team, and especially the teams in Research & Innovation, have been amazing. Their support for academic staff and their input and creativity have really helped the project succeed.

Worktribe will offer academic and Professional Services colleagues a shared platform for research proposal development, project costing, internal approvals and management reporting. It is a cloud-based software system that manages the research and innovation pre-award process (applying for research grant funding) and supports negotiation and agreement of research contracts. Worktribe replaces existing outdated software and processes with a shared platform which means we are working from a ‘single source of truth’. Academic leaders and managers can access Worktribe data easily to aid data-driven strategic decision-making.

Researchers are doing such interesting work, it’s great to spend your days getting immersed in what they’re passionate about. Those of us working in Research & Innovation get a buzz out of supporting staff to be successful in their research. We help academics prepare around 1,000 proposals every year for external funding, and the Research Finance team supports a research portfolio of 510 projects which receive around £185m in total. Funders range from UK research councils to small local companies, international governments and a wide range of charities.

On campus, it’s wonderful to see all the wildflowers at this time of year. Wandering through woods filled with blooming cow parsley has been magical. I adore the peace of campus, and that Stanmer Park is on our doorstep.

I sing in several choirs and love it. I find singing really lifts my mood and I so enjoy the community aspect of choirs. We have lots to choose from in Brighton & Hove. One of my choirs does choral theatre which adds an extra element to performance - from singing the audience to sleep in an overnight performance to leading them around a vast estate. I’m also slightly addicted to ‘makers’ workshops. Stone carving a green man, copying an illuminated manuscript, making a willow chicken - I’ll try just about anything.

I’d like to spend some time in Skyros, Greece (the birthplace of Achilles) again. I worked there for several summers when I was on a career break. I’d also love to do a pilgrimage walk, such as Via Francigena (Canterbury to Rome) or the Camino de Santiago. I’m really drawn by the meditative aspects of a long journey, alongside the physical and psychological challenges!