ISTM

I joined ISTM as its new dedicated Research Institute Manager in April 2005, initially on a secondment from Keele Research Services. Prior to that I had spent ten years in the central management and administration of Keele's research activity at the Office of Research & Enterprise, including management of the University's submission to the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. Before coming to Keele I worked for the Research Councils at Swindon, managing policy and peer review meetings for grants, fellowships and studentships in the area of materials science. I also managed the (obviously unpopular) down-sizing of a series of EPSRC programme grants and the allocation of time at the facilities at Daresbury Laboratory, Cheshire. My route into that was a couple of years in various research projects and some lecturing at Southampton University.

I am based at the Guy Hilton Research Centre at Keele's Hartshill site so I can work closely with biomedical research colleagues, and with Darren Clement and his team in the NHS R&D Office, so we effectively offer a "one-stop-shop" for clinical and laboratory researchers.

My main areas of focus in research management are:

• Analysis of the Institute’s research funding needs and current portfolio, including
  • Identification of major research funding sources and initiatives, eg MRC, EC Framework 7, charities;
  • Exploring EU structural and other suitable funds for capital projects and equipment purchase;
  • Increasing funds for research studentships;
• Dissemination of funding opportunities in ISTM, including targeted use of “Research Research”;
• Developing UK and international industrial links
• Maximising ISTM's impact in the Research Excellence Framework (successor to RAE2008);
• Having regular points of contact with members through research funding “clinics” at each site: Hartshill, Keele and Oswestry.

During 2008 I worked on secondment to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), Bristol for approx 0.1FTE to support the assessment phase meeting rounds for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.

From April 2010 to March 2013 I am a member of the UK national Research Organisations Consultation Group (ROCG), which is UK universities' main operational interface with their most important funders, the Research Councils.

Some recent meetings:

My role in ISTM is in supporting the research of approximately 70+ academic and clinical staff, 30+ research assistants and fellows, and up to 100 research students. To maintain our current level of activity we need to collectively achieve a grant income of around £4million per year alongside our HEFCE block grant for research, based on consistent performance in the RAE/REF assessment exercises every 5 years or so. So in fact my main role is in helping colleagues navigate their way through the fund-raising process for grants, studentships, equipment, etc.

Research Grants held as Principal Investigator:

BBSRC/EPSRC EP/P501237/1 Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Award Oct 2005 to Sept 2009: £37,500
"Functional analysis of alternately spliced variants in cancer" (Dr P Hoban)

MRC/EPSRC EP/P503019/1 Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Award Oct 2007 to Sept 2011: £45,000
"Investigation of gene-smoking interactions in rheumatoid arthritis" (Dr D Mattey)

MRC/EPSRC EP/P504546/1 Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Awards (x2) Oct 2008 to Sept 2012: £90,000
"Peritoneal dialysis and the evaluation of fluid status in advanced renal failure" (Prof S Davies)
"Exploring Progenitor Cell Regeneration Methods for the Repair of Lung Fibrosis" (Prof M Spiteri, Dr N Forsyth)

Research Grant Management:

• Budget & Management Group member of the Health Services Research Unit
• Steering Group of the EPSRC Modelling Methods for Medical Engineering (3ME) Initiative

Publications and recent Conference Presentations:

Smith M E & El Haj A J (2012) In The Same Room - practical methods to encourage collaboration across scientific disciplines; presented to Understanding Interdiscipliarity - theory and methods conference at Sheffield Hallam University, June 2012 (In The Same Room ppt)

Dickson L & Smith M (2011) Cognisable Caramboles: making your research and impacts clear; presented to Good Advice for Hard Times - Annual Conference of the Association of Research Managers and Administrators, Glasgow, June 2011

Ashmore C & Smith M (2010) Summarising medical research for a lay audience – what do grant funders expect?; poster presentation at Qualilty Counts - Leighton Exhibition 2010, Leighton Hospital, Cheshire, November 2010

Smith M & Ashmore C (2010) The Lay Summary in medical research proposals – is it becoming more important?; poster presentation at Making an Impact - Annual Conference of the Association of Research Managers and Administrators, Manchester, June 2010 (The Lay Summary in Medical Research poster 2010 pdf)

Smith M (2009) The Lay Summary in Medical Research - why and wherefore; Midlands Medicine Vol 25 no 5  pp191-195  ISBN-0269-9796 May 2009 (The Lay Summary in Medical Research pdf)

Bilsbrough N & Smith M E (2008) The Challenges of running a Research Institute or Centre; presented to Exploring Similarities - 2nd international conference of INORMS, Liverpool, June 2008.

Smith M (2007) Peer Review - thriving or ailing in the twenty-first century?; Midlands Medicine Vol 25 no 2 pp92-95   ISBN-0269-9796 (Peer Review - thriving or ailing in the 21st century? pdf)

Hazlehurst S & Smith M E (2007) Internal Peer Review of Research; presented to Raising Golden Geese - Annual Conference of the Association of Research Managers and Administrators, Cardiff, June 2007

Smith M (2004) Review: The Grants Register - the complete guide to postgraduate funding worldwide; Nurse Researcher Vol. 11 no 3 p83

Smith M E (2002) Getting Your First Research Grant: online oRE resources, Keele University (part of a Grant Tutorial series, currently unavailable online)

Smith M (2000) Making the most of research funding opportunities; Nurse Researcher Vol 8 no 1 pp4-18 (commissioned lead article for special issue on research methodology)

Smith M (1997) Spotlight on Keele; 4 page supplement of articles on research in What Matters Newsletter of NHS Executive West Midlands March 1997.

Current Teaching:

• Module Manager for ISTM PhD student training module LSC40017 Introduction to Scientific Research
• Lectures: module LSC40029 MSc Biomedical Blood Science

Lectures on UK research policy, international research funding, peer review, intellectual property.

Career and Higher Education:

2005 - date Research Manager, Institute for Science & Technology in Medicine, Faculty of Health, Keele University

2002 - 2005 Research Development Manager, Office of Research & Enterprise (oRE), University Secretary’s Office, Keele University

1994 - 2002 Research Support Manager, Research Development & Business Affairs (RDBA), University Secretary’s Office, Keele University

1992 - 1994 Higher Scientific Officer, Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), formerly Science & Engineering Research Council (SERC), Swindon

1988 - 1992 Lecturer (part time), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Southampton

1991 - 1992 Research Assistant (part-time), Faculty of Engineering, University of Southampton

1988 - 1992 Higher degree by research (MPhil): New Technology Research Group, University of Southampton

1985 - 1988 First degree (BSc hons): Department of Geography, University of Reading

Professional and other external memberships:

1990 – date British Science Association

1997 – date Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA) (formerly Research Administrators Group or RAGnet)

2000 - date St James Christian Workers Trust - chair and foundation trustee

2006 - date North Staffordshire Medical Institute (NSMI)

2007 - date Newcastle Deanery Synod of the Church of England

1995 – 2005 Association of University Research & Industry Links (AURIL)

Hospital Campus map  (Building 65)