ARMA Research Leaders Forum
The ARMA Research Leaders Forum, formerly called Research Directors Forum, is an online community for research leaders. It was established to enable networking and provide opportunities to share knowledge, seek advice and discuss pressing issues, challenges and matters that impact research leaders.
Aims
The Forum aims to:
To foster the sharing of knowledge, ideas, expertise and best practice
To facilitate opportunities for networking
To create critical mass and a collective, responsive voice, as appropriate, in matters that affect research leaders
Membership
The ARMA Research Leaders Forum is for those with current responsibility for leading the Research Office or equivalent of a UK-based higher education institution, research institute, independent research organisation, public sector research establishment, Catapult centre, NHS body, mission group or funder. The role will typically be a Professional Services Director or Head of the Research Office, but we recognise that equivalents exist and that there are different configurations of remits and responsibilities. As such, those with different roles will be considered for membership on a case-by-case basis.
Membership of the Research Leaders Forum is open to ARMA members and non-members.
As a member, you will be signed up to the Forum JiscMail list and may post any relevant information, seek advice or share any views, subject to JiscMail etiquette.
Activity
The Forum meets in-person twice a year, with other occasional virtual and roundtable meetings focused on pressing issues and challenges facing those leading the UK’s research offices.
Joining the Forum
If you would like to join the Forum JiscMail list, please complete this online form.
Champions
Our Research Leaders Forum champions are responsible for the activity and resource base for the group.
Mark Cranmer, Director of Research and Innovation Services at City St Georges, University of London
Mark has been working in universities since 2001, mostly in research services leadership and operational roles. Mark has been Director of Research & Innovation Services at City St George’s since 2024 following the merger of City University and St George’s University, and prior to that he spent eight years as Director of Joint Research & Enterprise Services at St George’s University and NHS Trust. Mark held the additional role of Merger Operations Lead for St George’s in the university merger and played a key role in enabling the merger.
Before St George’s, Mark spent four years at UCL as Division Manager for Surgery, leading professional services for the Division. He also spent 11 years at Imperial College in numerous research services positions. Mark holds degrees in Economics (UCL) and Law (University of Law).
Joanne Doleman, Head of Research Governance for Trusted Human Research, Wellcome Sanger Institute
Joanne serves as the principal specialist and sponsor for Sanger, accountable for providing expertise, advice, and support on research ethics, regulation, research policy, and good research practice related to human samples, and draws on her own experience as a post-doctoral research scientist.
She leads and advances the Institute’s internal governance strategies concerning the use of human materials in research and is responsible for communicating with and training Institute staff in this area.
Joanne maintains strong relationships with regulators, government bodies, and organizations to inform and influence policy. She is also a member of the ERION Ethics and Research Integrity Officer Network within EARMA and co-chairs the EMBL Bioethical Internal Advisory Committee.
Anna Grey, Director of Research and Innovation Services, University of Dundee
Anna Grey joined the University of Dundee from Edge Hill University, where she had been Director of the Research Office since 2021.
Previous to her time at Edge Hill, Anna worked at the University of York, ultimately as Research Strategy and Policy Manager and Deputy Head of Research Services. During her time at York she oversaw the last three Research Excellence Framework returns, and acted as a REF2021 Panel Advisor.
Anna has worked at a range of institutions, including Bradford, Hull and Durham (the latter at their Stockton campus) and has experience of University Planning and student administration. Her professional interests include benchmarking of performance and how to measure research performance. She is an active member of the Association of Research Managers and Administrators and was a founding champion of the REF Special Interest Group.
Jennifer Hazelton, Director of Research Strategy, Development and Impact (Interim), University of Edinburgh
Dr Jennifer Hazelton is Interim Director of Research Strategy, Development and Impact at the University of Edinburgh. An experienced senior leader, Jen has been Head of Research Funding at the University of Edinburgh since 2022, taking up the Interim Director role in January 2025. Previously Senior Research Facilitator and Associate Director of Research Coordination for the Built Environment, Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences Faculties at UCL, she has undertaken secondments at EPSRC and as a Business Partner for UCL Research and Innovation Services. Her undergraduate degree and short research career were hosted by Newcastle University, where she also project managed an EU Aid Cooperation funded international project.
Member Profiles
Vanessa Cuthill Director of Research Services, Cardiff University
I have been a member of ARMA for a couple of decades, and during this time I have worked at multiple universities and UK funders and have always valued the insight of colleagues across the sector. Over my career I have encountered multiple challenges, been faced with opportunities and deadlines with little notice, and needed strategies to lead my team through periods of change, and the ARMA Research Directors Forum offers me a network of peers and access to their wisdom. This connectivity also opens up valuable insights into sector developments, engagement opportunities across the diversity of institutions and organisations, and ultimately enables us, together, to strengthen our contribution to impactful research.
Dr Andrew Fairweather-Tall Director of Research and Innovation, University of London
Pilar Pousada Solino Director, Research and Innovation Services, University of Hull
I lead a very friendly, skilled and highly efficient Research and Innovation Services team and drive research strategy and research culture change at institutional level, across all our Schools and research institutes. The remit of my team spans the breath of the research and innovation ecosystem from all aspects of research and partnership development to post award, including governance, trusted research, environmental sustainability of research, research systems and data, REF and research excellence.
The Directors network is a great community to be part of. Most of us are grappling with the same challenges, in our institutions and across the sector, and having a group of very engaged peers at the end of a message is invaluable. It provides a secure space to ask questions, test ideas, share the good
