National Postdoc Conference 2023 – Workshops

Dr Sarah Higginson
Sarah is the Research Knowledge Exchange Manager at CREDS (Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions), a £20 million investment in how, why and when energy is used, ending in December 2023. In this role, she has co-led the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) work of CREDS, supporting a £1 million flexible funding call for Early Career Researchers, helping to set up work on the intersections of racial justice and energy demand research, developing a strategic network of energy investments cooperating on EDI, and so on. During this work, however, she found that colleagues were often confused about EDI and how it related to her work. She therefore developed the EDI cube, a simple toolkit to help researchers developing or evaluating projects, and for use in teaching.

Dr Rachel Bray
I am an anthropologist who loves translating research into action. After a PhD at Durham and a couple of fixed-term lectureships in Edinburgh I followed my heart to South Africa. There I carried out research on how childhoods had changed since the democratic transition and amidst rising rates of HIV, supported by fellowships and teaching roles at the University of Cape Town, and Human Sciences Research Council.
Returning to the UK I joined Oxford’s Department of Social Policy and Intervention as a fixed term research officer. There I developed research on multi-dimensional poverty with the social movement ATD Fourth World, continuing this in ‘long thin’ form to this day alongside two exciting, more senior paid roles. The first was a Careers Adviser for Researchers at Oxford. I now lead the Researcher Hub, a new initiative driving policy change and practical support for postdoc researchers and their academic managers.

Dr Fiona McBride
Fiona McBride (she/her) is a senior research staff developer at the University of Liverpool supporting the successful delivery, impact and rollout of Prosper. Prior to joining the Prosper team Fiona worked as a postdoctoral researcher working at the Open Innovation Hub for Antimicrobial Surfaces at the University of Liverpool.
Join the conversation #npdc23