1 September, 2015
Fiona is an expert in innovation and entrepreneurship, and brings with her a wealth of experience in the social and economic dimensions of science.
Today, Fiona Reid joins the UK Collaborative on Development Sciences (UKCDS) as its new Director.
Fiona is an expert in innovation and entrepreneurship, and brings with her a wealth of experience in the social and economic dimensions of science.
In Fiona’s previous role as the Director for the Oxford Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Saïd Business School, she developed new models of engagement for scientists, leading to multiple new ventures, networks and social enterprises being formed.
She has fifteen years’ experience teaching and developing new models of education for organisations ranging from CERN to the Goldman Sachs Foundation.
Fiona’s expertise in innovation and leadership will ensure the UKCDS Secretariat continues to effectively facilitate the work of its 14 member organisations, making an impact on UK research for international development.
The UK spends approximately £450 million a year on research directly relevant to international development. The goal of UKCDS is to make the most of this investment.
UKCDS’ work spans all research relevant to development, and has included informing UN agreements on the role of science through the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, advancing thinking around education systems and developing a database of research tackling the Ebola crisis.
UKCDS also produced ‘Science and Innovation for Development’, a leading book on research for international development, written by Sir Gordon Conway and Professor Jeff Waage.
UKCDS’ new leadership comes at an exciting time for development research. This year is an important one for international development, with a number of global agreements, including the Sustainable Development Goals, being finalised.
On taking up her new role, Fiona said, “I’m delighted to be joining UKCDS at a time where the need for its existence has never been higher”.
“UKCDS is a model for best practice in research collaboration. By operating as a broad coalition of science and social science funders, at the interface between science and development, it creates global impact for UK research through progress towards development goals.”
Fiona’s new appointment as the Director of UKCDS was first announced in June. She replaces Andrée Carter as Director, following Andrée’s retirement after more than seven years leading UKCDS.