Terms of Reference for the Research Committee

  1. Role of the Research Committee

The role of the RC is to:

  • Ensure that the research evolves and responds rapidly to opportunities aligned with the (evolving) Departmental strategy

  • Provide guidance and advice to academics and early career researchers for impact through research in terms of proposals (incl. fellowships) articles, translational, industrial and academic collaboration, and various outreach activities

  • Identify and support opportunities for the creation of Platforms (e.g. Centres and Institutes) from within the Research Themes to address Grand Challenges

  • Help identify research strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

  • Interface with the Departmental Executive Committee (the RC Chair, Department Operations Manager, and Director of Resources – see item 2.1 below – are members of the Executive Committee) and the Enterprise Committee

  • Advise on the Departmental research facilities (equipment [both computational and experimental] and infrastructure) to ensure that they remain commensurate with the ambitions of the Departmental Research Strategy in collaboration with the Departmental Executive Committee

  • Interface with the Departmental Awards Committee (the RC Chair is an ex officio member of this committee) for advice on opportunities for nominating staff for awards, prizes, medals, and honours, as well as memberships of boards and councils

  • Interface with the Faculty Research Committee (the RC Chair is a member of this committee) to ensure seamless two-way flow of information between the Department and the College, and alignment with College strategy

    2. Membership

    2.1 The RC will be chaired by the Director of Research and will comprise representatives from the various research themes, the Analytical Services User Group, the Computing Research User Group, the Director of Resources (ex officio), the Department Operations Manager, postdoctoral research associates, and the Communications Officer. The Chair of the RC will set the agenda in collaboration with the remaining RC members prior to each RC meeting

    2.2 In the absence of the Chair, the Deputy Director of Research will chair the meeting. The Deputy Director of Research will also represent the Chair at Faculty Research Committee meetings

    2.3 At the invitation of the RC, Departmental staff and personnel will attend RC meetings exceptionally to facilitate discussions

    2.4 The current members of the RC are:

  • Dr Humera Ansari (PDRA Rep)

  • Prof Benoit Chachuat

  • Dr Yuval Elani

  • Dr Ceri Hammond

  • Prof Erich Muller (Director of Resources)

  • Prof Sandro Macchietto (Enterprise Committee Rep)

  • Dr Maria Papathanasiou

  • Prof Camille Petit (Chair)

  • Dr Ronny Pini

  • Prof Karen Polizzi

  • Anusha Sri-Pathmanathan (DOM)

  • Dr Chris Tighe (ASUG Rep)

  • Sara West (Communications Manager)

3. Procedures for RC meetings

3.1 The RC will meet typically every 3 months. The dates of RC meetings will be set in the summer before the start of the new academic year

3.2 The RC acts as an advisory and consultation board; decisions at meetings will be reached through consensus, with any substantive dissent noted, and without recourse to the introduction of a voting system

3.3 Minutes and actions will be recorded by the Communications Officer, approved by the RC Chair, passed to the rest of the RC for review before being released to the rest of the Department for information, normally within 15 days of the date of the RC meeting. At each meeting, items for discussion at the next RC meeting will also be noted. The minutes shall be considered as accepted by all members if no member has objected in writing to the Chair

3.4 To encourage free flow of information, all discussion in the meetings of the RC will be held to be confidential within the RC. Information presented in the meeting, and that is not publicly accessible, will not be communicated to any third party, or be used by anyone for any purpose, except with the express written consent of the party that presented the information

3.5 The RC and all staff will have password-protected access to a site where they can find copies of all the committees’ meeting minutes, presentations, and papers.

 3.6 Whenever the RC is asked to prioritise equipment (experimental or computing) for purchasing, the following criteria will be used:

  • Have a multi-theme focus
  • Support new staff
  • Support new research (though see below regarding UG)
  • Strengthen departmental infrastructure
  • Support use for UG labs
  • Replacement of well-used but ageing equipment
  • Have a contribution by proposers
  • Overall quality of bid