Research Professional Services Team

The Research Professional Services Team provides a range of support to Researchers (including Early Careers Researchers) and Postgraduate Researchers working closely with the Associate Dean for Research and Innovation; the Faculty External Funding Lead; Faculty Innovation, Industry, and Engagement Lead; Research Faculty PGR Lead; and REF Unit of Assessment Chairs to deliver the Research Strategy for the Faculty. 

Working within the Faculty and with key units across the University, our team supports the key areas of research funding (internal and external), knowledge exchange, impact, postgraduate researcher administration, Faculty-level research event coordination and research communication.

Please get in touch to find out how we can help – or if you need research-related advice.

Research-related support

Contact: mah-research@sussex.ac.uk  

  • Michelle Gibson coordinates the Faculty’s wide range of research and professional development events. 
  • Eleanor Cains and Tiffany Murphy job share the Research Communications Coordinator role; working with the Faculty Communications team to manage research communications and coordinate research-related information requests. 

PGR and ECR support

Contact: mah-pgr@sussex.ac.uk  

  • This covers the Faculty’s PGR Admissions, Research Exams, Engagement Monitoring and changes to registration processes.  

Team management

  • Medeni Fordham (M.Fordham@sussex.ac.uk) is the Faculty’s Senior Research Manager and oversees the Research Support Team, as well as working closely with the academic leads for Research in the Faculty to shape research strategy and lead on research and PGR planning.
  • Elena Dennison (E.Dennison@sussex.ac.uk) is the Faculty’s Research Programme Manager, as well as being the manager of the Sussex Digital Humanities Lab. Elena has a wide range of experience in the area of external research grants and managing large research projects.
  • Katherine Blackadder (K.Blackadder@sussex.ac.uk) is the Faculty’s Assistant Research Manager (Impact) and leads on support for academics’ Knowledge Exchange and Impact activities. Katherine has a background in research communications, engagement and impact support (including developing the University's REF2021 Impact Case Studies), and can help with planning, funding, tracking and narrating outcomes from knowledge exchange activity with non-academic stakeholders.
  • Laura Vellacott (L.Vellacott@sussex.ac.uk) is the Faculty’s Assistant Research Manager (Operations) and is responsible for ensuring that internal systems and processes are in place to encourage and facilitate research, knowledge exchange and impact across the Faculty.
  • The Faculty's Assistant Research Manager (PGR) (under recruitment) oversees PGR-related matters including PGR events, progression reviews, funding support, scholarships and co-ordination of the doctoral tutor pool. They also oversee support for ECRs (Early Career Researchers) in Media, Arts and Humanities. 
  • Lauren Church (lauren.church@sussex.ac.uk) is the Producer in Residence and principally leads on the strategic planning and delivery of the Faculty's public programme of significant events, including the annual Festival of Ideas as part of Brighton Festival, the Coast is Queer Literary Festival and other projects created in collaboration with the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts and other colleagues across the University. Lauren also supports the Faculty's student enrichment and employability planning by connecting cultural industries partners with placement opportunities within the Faculty.

Please use the Resources and Opportunities page for all you need to know about managing your research in the Faculty and where to go to find out more.