2026 People Make Research: CREATIVITY by Res Dev

Open Access team

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

I am nominating the Open Access team at the University of Glasgow for their consistently collegiate and enabling contribution to research. The team provides clear, patient, and pragmatic support that helps researchers navigate open access, funder requirements, and REF compliance with confidence. Their proactive guidance, responsiveness, and willingness to engage constructively across disciplines significantly reduce friction and uncertainty. By making open research practices accessible rather than burdensome, the team improves research quality, supports early-career colleagues, and plays a vital role in sustaining a positive and responsible research culture across the University.

Faidon Koutsogiannopolous

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

I have really appreciated the care that Faidon takes with his projects, and his willingness to learn new technologies to create better outcomes. He is always patient when I don't have his same level of technical expertise.

Kirsty Gallacher

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Kirsty has shown exceptional research leadership by creating a reproductive research field and laboratory that simply did not exist at Glasgow before. She built the infrastructure, the methodology and the collaborations needed to turn a clinical service into a genuine research environment. She has enabled honours, masters and international student projects, opened new analytical approaches for ejaculate and mare-side pathology work, and established a platform for future innovation. What stands out is how she brings others with her. Her work has been transformative across the division.

Hessam Mehr

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Hessam encapsulates everything that the University of Glasgow aims to be. He is genuinely curious and wants to learn as much as he can about the world. Because of this he takes part in a lot of University activities and it never seems like he feels obliged to take part, it's because he wants to. When I see him around the ARC he is always so gracious and helpful and it's much appreciated.

Luca Guariento

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Luca applies his creativity and generous nature to not only supporting digital humanities projects but sharing his knowledge, applying his skills to improve the research environment. He has readily stepped into voids with his technical skill when the College has needed it.

Peter McGinty

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Peter is a true visionary whose creativity and fresh ideas continually elevate our research culture. He brings an educated, thoughtful perspective to every interaction, sparking innovation that is an inspiration to behold. His ability to inject originality and challenge conventional thinking makes him an invaluable contributor to the research support ecosystem and I believe Peter’s talents are still untapped. His contributions will move the sector forward and therefore strongly position him as a leader of the future!

Qammer H. Abbasi

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Prof. Qammer Abbasi has had a strong impact on my research through his clear technical guidance and continuous support. He fosters a collaborative and inclusive environment where ideas are openly discussed and refined. His leadership encourages independent thinking while maintaining a strong focus on high-quality outcomes. Through his support, I have been able to advance my work on RIS-assisted ISAC and O-RAN testbed integration. His ability to connect theoretical research with practical implementation has significantly strengthened both my technical skills and research confidence.

Elizabeth Darby

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Lizzy always goes above and beyond. She has made a huge difference to grants submissions and management, since taking on her post. She answers questions accurately and fully. She's immensely knowledgeable in the area and always willing to help. I stopped dreading grant submissions as I know I am in good hands with Lizzy. I know my colleagues feel the same as we all have commented how great Lizzy is. Thank you!

Lisa Bradley

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Lisa is one of the most valuable professionals at the University of Glasgow when it comes to fostering interdisciplinary research. Her work is genuinely insightful, showing how creativity and imagination can drive innovation, especially in times of uncertainty. She actively cultivates a positive research culture, both around her and far beyond her immediate teams. Approachable and always willing to help, Lisa brings people from different disciplines together, creating a supportive, energising, and truly innovative research environment. She makes collaboration not just possible, but exciting.

Guang-Yu Lian

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

I would like to nominate Guang-Yu, a dedicated postdoctoral researcher, for her exceptional commitment to supporting others and building a positive research culture. She is a true role model for PGR students. She always shares her knowledge, offers practical help and maintains the highest professional standards. Her collaborative approach and high-quality research outputs uplift the entire lab.

Sarah Weakley

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Sarah has a delightfully unfettered approach to research culture – she has so much knowledge that she regularly shares, ability to put ideas together and link them with key partners, and always strives for excellence. She is fun to work with, and a brilliant mind that we could all learn from. When working alongside her I feel myself improve, learn and think about things in new ways. She is one of those people that is advancing and shaping research culture from which we can all learn and strive to reach higher levels of excellence.

Rachel Macdonald

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Rachel's cool and collected approach to her work is a huge benefit to the academics she works with. She is always able to manage even complex and difficult issues, picking through the details and finding imaginative ways forward. She is a supportive and dedicated team member who is able to be the calm in the storm!

Lynne Owens

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Operational and support staff are essential to public engagement with research at UofG and our colleagues in MVLS Design are such an important part of the civic engagement and community engagement with research activity in Byres Community Hub. We work with Lynne regularly, often on short turnarounds to help us disseminate research in accessible formats and for lay audiences through creative exhibitions and event communications. Lynne's expert advice and her positive and helpful approach really helps us as a busy team and has a hugely beneficial impact on the Hub's brand as a whole. Communications are such an important part of the research culture and Lynne's work is greatly valued.

Cheryl McGeachan

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Cheryl has done an outstanding job of seeing the process of setting up our amazing new Creative Impact Lab from inception to it launching earlier this academic year. The space is a breath of fresh air, a space where you can really feel your creative juices flow whether this is through floor-to-ceiling mind mapping, collaborative project design, use of video and podcasting kit, or using coloured paper, pens, paints and more to bring creativity into our geographical research practice.

Kara Keddie

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Kara has joined our team as a Research Assistant with a previous background in the field of UX. Kara has shared knowledge and insight in design and visual communication with other researchers in our team who are not directly working with her on a specific project, which has created such positive energy within the team and has helped us think better about how to communicate the important work we do in mental health research.

Chris McParland

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Chris is an excellent early career researcher. He is hard working and knowledgeable and makes an effort to update his knowledge and skills as a researcher and supervisor. Importantly he is a team player and excellent communicator and helps foster a positive collaborative research culture in our team. He demonstrates readership leadership skills in many areas in particular about patient and public involvement.

Yujia Jin

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

Yujia has played a key role in nurturing and leading innovative research initiatives within the Centre for Comparative Literature and Translation. In all that she does, her own work as a creative allows her to think outside of the box and inspire others. She is exceptionally generous, as she demonstrated on many occasions during her work on a series of Being Human Festival events (especially in the context of craft events dedicated to children), and she is also very forward-thinking as an academic, something which shone through in her leadership of a KE event bringing together academics and the gaming industry, a highlight of our programming in 2025. She is a constant source of inspiration!

Partnership Catalyst and Catalyst Lab

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

The Partnership Catalyst and Catalyst Lab, under the inspirational leadership of Dr Fraser Rowan and the equally inspiring work of Dr Lindsay Middleton and Dr Neil McIntyre, in collaboration with Glasgow School of Art and external consultants, have been fundamental in developing creative collaborative research relationships across the University and with external partners. Their approach to design-led research and innovation is a model of professional engagement and engaging professionalism. Their events and activities are consistently CREATIVE, motivating, captivating, absorbing, and rewarding. The work of the Catalyst Team has been transformative for seeing how creative collaborations across the university and with external partners can operate, and they have been at the core of recent work with the GCF programme of activities.

John Davies

researcherdevelopment — 2026-05-05 11:42:18 UTC

I appreciate the encouragement and support that John has given over the last year towards writing-up some of our work in research support services. He is always generous with his time, support and huge knowledge.

Professor Muhammad Imran

2026-05-27 15:20:21 UTC

Professor Muhammad Imran has made a lasting impact through his leadership in research innovation industry collaboration and the development of future researchers. He has built a research environment that encourages technical excellence critical thinking and meaningful real-world impact.

I have personally benefited from his mentorship and leadership throughout my research journey. His ability to bridge academic research with industry applications has strengthened my technical expertise professional growth and confidence in delivering practical engineering solutions.

His continued contribution to industry-focused research collaboration and researcher development is creating positive impact across academia industry and society.