ARMA appoints two new Directors

At ARMA’s recent AGM, Vanessa Cuthill and Navdeep Bains were confirmed as new directors of the ARMA Board.

 Vanessa Cuthill

Vanessa Cuthill is the Director of Research Services at Cardiff University. Prior to joining Cardiff in April 2024, Vanessa was Director of Research and Enterprise at the University of Sussex and has held positions as Director of Research at The British Academy and as Director of Research and Enterprise at the University of Essex. She has also worked at the Economic and Social Research Council, University of Bath, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, and the Arts and Humanities Research Board.

Vanessa is committed to the professional recognition of research managers and administrators and valuing the contributions of all team members. During her career Vanessa has promoted cross sector collaborations, sought to improve systems and process, as well as creating development opportunities for research managers and administrators.

Vanessa has been an ARMA member for over a decade, and a member of the Membership Engagement Committee (MEC) for five years. As a new Director of the ARMA Board for Member Engagement Vanessa will bring her ARMA experience, experience of roles she has held across the sector, as well as a perspective from a devolved nation. She is keen to work with the breadth of membership to ensure ARMA understands their needs and is proactive in exploring opportunities to strengthen the membership offering.

Navdeep Bains

Dr Navdeep Bains is the Director of Research & Impact Services at the University of Warwick. Navdeep works alongside the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) in the development and delivery of the University’s strategy for research and impact. She has extensive expertise in the commercialisation of research, grants and contracts, strategy development, research impact, research integrity, Trusted Research including export controls and NSI, income forecasting, REF and KEF, as well as in building partnerships at international, national, and regional levels.

Navdeep has over 20 years’ experience in research management, having held a number of senior research management and technology transfer roles at the Universities of Warwick, Birmingham and Leicester. Navdeep is also currently co-chair of the UKRI Research Organisation Consultation Group (ROCG), which plays an important role in supporting dialogue between UKRI and the R&I community.

Navdeep has a BSc (Hons) in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Coventry University and was awarded her PhD in Biochemistry in 2005 from Queen Mary, University of London.

“I am honoured to be to be joining the ARMA Board as a Director.  This opportunity to contribute to ARMA’s vision, mission, and the delivery of its new 2025–27 strategy is both exciting and will be rewarding. As a sector and as research managers, we are navigating a time of considerable change and complexity, but with this comes the potential for innovation and progress. Drawing on my experience and expertise, I am committed to supporting ARMA in responding with agility, insight, and a forward-looking approach to the needs of our community. ARMA is a vital resource to research management professionals, and I look forward to working alongside the Chair and fellow Board members to strengthen its impact and enhance the support it provides to our members.”