Zee Upton - Executive Director, Skin Research Institute of Singapore (A*Star)

Professor Zee Upton joined the Institute of Medical Biology (IMB), A*STAR, as a Research Director in July 2015. She became the Deputy Executive Director – Industry in 2017, the Covering Executive Director in March 2018 and the Executive Director in 2019. In February 2020 she concurrently took on the role of Executive Director of the Skin Research Institute of Singapore (SRIS), a research partnership between Nanyang Technological University, the National Health Group and A*STAR that is focussed on skin diseases in the Tropics and in Asian populations. She is a biochemist by training, a tissue engineer, an inventor and entrepreneur, and is internationally renowned for her research in molecular, biochemical and cellular aspects related to growth factors, extracellular matrix proteins and tissue repair. Zee believes that innovation commonly arises in the “white spaces” between disciplines and actively champions interdisciplinary research.

Prior to relocating to Singapore, she was a senior research leader and research manager at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia, where she held various roles, including Assistant Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Health, as well as established the Tissue Repair and Regeneration Program at QUT and the CRC for Wound Management Innovation. In Singapore she has built a similar highly inter-disciplinary consortium of researchers focussed on chronic wounds through the establishment of the pan-Singapore Wound Care Innovation for the Tropics Programme.

Dr Campbell Thomson - Director of Office of Research Enterprise, University of Western Australia 

Campbell Thomson is currently the Director of the Office of Research Enterprise at The University of Western Australia.

He has a PhD in Agricultural Science (1987) and spent eight years working in the area of physiological adaptation of crop species to environmental stress in laboratories in Germany, England and Australia. He has also worked in the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry as a pasture eco-physiologist.

In 1997 Dr Thomson commenced in the position of Director of the Office of Research Enterprise at UWA, a position which he has held for over 20 years and has now grown to include the areas of innovation and commercialisation. He currently serves on a number of not-for-profit companies and joint venture boards, including the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, the Population Health Research Network and the Western Australian Animal Resources Authority.

Dr Thomson is the immediate-past President of the Australasian Research Management Society (ARMS), a position which he also held from 2004 to 2006, and is committed to continuing the development of the profession of research management. He was appointed to the ARMS Accreditation Council in 2013.

Maxine Bryant - Director Research Services, University of Canterbury 

I am Director of Research Services at the University of Canterbury and have worked in research management for fourteen years. My research management career has included various roles spanning the Performance Based Research Fund (New Zealand’s national assessment exercise), implementation and development of research management systems (funding, outputs), promotion of research activities (profiles website, research reporting), research analytics, and pre-award and post-award management functions.

I was a member of the PBRF2018 Sector Reference Group. I have been a member of ARMS since 2013, becoming a member of the New Zealand and Pacific Chapter Committee in 2019, joining the ARMS Board in 2019, and becoming an accredited ARMS Training Fellow in 2020. I believe excellent research management is essential for excellent research and I want to support ARMS in its mission to develop research management professionals, promote the profession, and advance research. I come from a science background and have a PhD in molecular genetics. I am a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), member of the Project Management Institute (PMI), and member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.

Alistair Duncan - Executive Director, Research Office, La Trobe University  

Alistair Duncan commenced as full-time Executive Director of the La Trobe Research Office in January 2020 from a job share with Dr Mary Aitken, during which he also held his role as Deputy Director, Research Performance. Alistair has been closely involved in transformation projects across the University and research portfolio since joining in 2013.

Prior to this he held a range of strategy, performance and planning roles at the University of Melbourne. He lives with two children in Carlton, Victoria, and is a graduate of the University of Western Australia and Melbourne Business School.

Steven Hannan, Executive Director, Quality Teaching Academy, The University of Newcastle.

Steve is the Executive Director of the Quality Teaching Academy, an entity focused on commercialising the research of the Teachers and Teaching Research Centre at the University of Newcastle.  Prior to this he was the Executive Director of Research Engagement, Development and Innovation (REDI) at Western Sydney University. Steve joined the higher education sector in 2004 as a HR Officer at the University of Newcastle and through involvement in various projects moved to IT and then in 2008 to Research Services to manage the University’s ERA submission. 

Steve continued to explore opportunities for new experiences, managing the animal house, the ethics and integrity teams and the data and systems teams as he progressed through Associate Director and ultimately Executive Director roles.  Steve holds a Bachelor of Business with Majors in Industrial Relations and Management and Masters in Dispute Resolution.  Upon leaving High School, Steve had no idea what he wanted to do when he grew up but is certain his career advisor never mentioned Research Management Professional.