17 August 2011 The Future of Research: a European perspective

On Friday 19 August 2011, Lincoln University will be hosting Professor John Wood, Chair of the European Research Area Board. 

The European Research Area Board has twenty-two members appointed by the European Commission. They are experts from the world of science and from universities and industry, independent of any outside influence, who have experience in the design and implementation of research policy as well as in advisory work at a European or international level. 
 
Professor Wood will address staff and students of the University – as well as wider stakeholders - on the perspective taken by the European Commission on research – in particular the changing role of research, especially focused around international collaborations that are being formed to tackle the big challenges being faced globally.  These issues range from medical, through humanities, to physical infrastructure.

“Lincoln University’s strong research focus not only enhances the quality of the teaching in this University, it also enables us to contribute in a significant and meaningful way to some of the pressing conversations that are being held globally.  It is a privilege to have Professor Wood here to give us an insight into the European collective research activity – providing an opportunity for us to see where we can further our involvement in research in Europe and internationally” says Professor Roger Field, Vice Chancellor of Lincoln University. 

Media are invited to attend Professor Wood’s address. A Q&A session will follow his presentation. The session will be chaired by Dr Rupert Tipples.

About the speaker

Professor John Wood, CBE, FREng
Professor John Wood is domiciled in the United Kingdom and, in addition to his role as Chair of the European Research Area Board he is also the Secretary-General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities. 

He graduated from the University of Sheffield in metallurgy and studied for his PhD at the University of Cambridge (Darwin College), where he subsequently stayed on as Goldsmith’s Research Fellow at Churchill College. In 1994, he was awarded a higher doctorate from Sheffield and has an honorary doctorate from the University of Cluj-Napoca in Romania, where he is also a 'citizen of honour'. He has held academic posts at the Open University, followed by the University of Nottingham, where he was Dean of Engineering. From 2001‐2007, he was seconded from Nottingham to the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils as Chief Executive, where he was responsible for the Rutherford‐Appleton and Daresbury Laboratories, in addition to shareholdings in ESRF, ILL and the Diamond Light Source. During this period, he was a visiting professor at the University of Oxford and still remains a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford.
 
Professor Wood then joined Imperial College London, first as Principal of the Faculty of Engineering, and subsequently as Senior International Advisor. He is still a visiting professor at Imperial. 

Professor Wood was a founder member of the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures and became chair in 2004, where he was responsible for producing the first European Roadmap.
 
He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1999, and is currently a member of their Council and International Committee. He was made a Commander of the British Empire in 2007 for 'services to science', and in 2010 was made an Officer of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.