Board of Trustees

Dr Rebekah Smith McGloin is Director of Research Culture and Environment and Director of the Doctoral School at Nottingham Trent University. She provides strategic leadership in the area of inclusive research culture, environment and doctoral education, drawing on 18 years of experience. She is currently principal investigator on two major projects in the field of inclusive doctoral education; the Universities for Nottingham Co(l)laboratory Research Hub and Equity in Doctoral Education through Partnership and Innovation (EDEPI). She was a member of the UKRI Bioscience Skills and Careers Strategy Panel (2015–2022) and an expert panel reviewer for the UK Concordat for Researchers (2019). Her research interests lie in higher education management, postgraduate research student experience, widening participation and access to higher education.

Rebekah joined the UKCGE Executive Committee in March 2024 and was elected as Chair in March 2025.

Tina Ramkalawan is Director of the Graduate School and Reader at Brunel University London, responsible for doctoral and post-doctoral researcher development across the institution. She also leads the Brunel Integrated PhD programme. Tina has an interdisciplinary academic background in psychology, health & medical research. Her own doctoral research at the MRC Institute of Hearing Research, University of Nottingham, contributed to the establishment of the UK NHS Newborn Hearing Screening Programme. Tina has worked in academia for over 25 years, at universities including Nottingham Trent University, University College London and Bristol University. She has initiated and managed doctoral and post-doctoral programmes for funders including the MRC and EPSRC. She is a chartered psychologist and a qualified coach and mentor, and has previously served as a co-opted member of the UKCGE Executive Committee.

Tina was elected as Vice-Chair in March 2025.

Carolyn is the Director of the Doctoral & Researcher College at Coventry University with responsibility for 800 PGR and the strategic leadership for the delivery of quality research degree programmes and researcher development activity.

Carolyn has worked in the HE sector for 19 years, in numerous strategic roles supporting PGT and PGR. She has been a Trustee since 2021, having previously acted as Co-Chair of the UKCGE Graduate School Managers Network. Previously, she has acted as Chair of the University Alliance Head of Graduate Schools Network, sat on the EUA-CDE thematic steering group for Cotutelle and Dual Award programmes, and most recently on the UKRI working group for the New Deal for PGR.

Carolyn is also a part time PhD candidate having enrolled in September 2021, looking at the value of the doctorate for Professional Services Leaders in UK HEIs. Her other interests are focused on structures and strategy and doctoral education and improving the experience for part time PGRs.

Carolyn joined the UKCGE Executive Committee in July 2021 and was elected as Honorary Secretary in March 2025.

In his 19 years at the OU, James has led on PGR strategy and policy and on the development and production of online training courses and materials for supervisors and PGRs. This allowed him to establish a virtual research environment for PGRs in 2014 across the University and our partner institutions.

James was Director of Research Degrees for the Science Faculty for 5 years with responsibility for leading and managing the Faculty’s 500 PGR students. James became the first Graduate School Director at the Open University, establishing its new Graduate School in 2016 supporting 1000 part-time and full-time PGRs.

James joined the UKCGE Executive Committee in July 2020.

Rachel has been the Academic Director (Doctoral) at the University of Bath since October 2022, with responsibility for supporting ~2300 doctoral researchers. The role requires strategic leadership for the recruitment of doctoral researchers, delivery of high quality research degree programmes, and provision of researcher and supervisor development activities. In the role, she has created a five-year doctoral strategy, and implemented various initiatives to develop an inclusive and supportive doctoral community and enhance the student experience. Outside of the Academic Director (Doctoral) role, she is a Reader in Sport and Performance Psychology, HEA Senior Fellow, and PhD and Professional Doctorate supervisor.

Rachel joined the UKCGE Executive Committee in March 2025.

Currently Head of the Researcher School at the University of Sussex, and with fifteen years professional services experience in HE, Susanna has been responsible for postgraduate researcher (PGR) provision at all organisational levels, and held direct operational and/​or strategic responsibility for every aspect of the PGR journey. She has also managed the on-course experience for postgraduate taught (PGT) students. Active at the sector level, Susanna is co-Chair of UKCGE’s Postgraduate Education Practitioners’ (PEP) Network, and previously acted as Secretary to the Academic Registrars’ Council’s (ARC) Postgraduate Practitioner Group. She advocates both for PGRs, and for recognition of the specialist expertise of the professional services colleagues who support them.

Susanna joined the UKCGE Executive Committee in March 2025.

James Burford is an Associate Professor in Education Studies at the University of Warwick and in 2023 co-founded the Doctoral Education and Academia Research (DEAR) Centre. In his international academic career working across universities in New Zealand, Thailand, Australia and the UK, James has developed a research focus on doctoral education and the academic profession. His recent books and projects focus on doctoral admissions, distance doctoral education, academic conferences, and mitigation and reasonable adjustments for doctoral assessment. James is the current Co-Editor-in-Chief of Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, a leading international venue for research on postgraduate education.

James joined the UKCGE Executive Committee in March 2025.

Dr Janet Carton is Head of Graduate Studies and Research Strategy at UCD and currently holds the Vice Presidency of ORPHEUS. 

Her career focus is professional development for research supervisors and doctoral student skills training. She designed and implemented the first Irish, multi-disciplinary supervisor support programme in 2001 at TU Dublin. She has since driven supervisor development nationally and internationally, growing key partnerships and policy (NAIRTL, Universitas 21, ORPHEUS, EUA-CDE, CGS and UKCGE). 

Janet developed and is currently implementing the first supervisor support framework in Ireland at UCD, runs a multi-institutional support programme and key IUA (Irish Universities Association) collaborative initiatives.

Until recently, Karen Clegg led the researcher development function at the University of York where she was responsible for: the design and facilitation of professional development interventions for researchers (PGRs, fellows and academic staff); the creation of strategy and implementation of policy and support for public engagement (3MT, Falling Walls) and knowledge exchange (Enterprise Fellowships). 

Karen is now co-director of the £4.6million, four year Research England funded Next Generation Research SuperVision Project (RSVP) designed to transform the culture and practice of research supervision. Karen is well connected in the sector and is an elected member of the BBSRC People and Talent Strategy Advisory Panel, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a trained coach and an accomplished conference speaker.

Karen joined the UKCGE Executive Committee in July 2020 and was re-elected in March 2024.

Kay Guccione is Head of Research Culture and Researcher Development at the University of Glasgow, where she leads a dynamic team of 18 development specialists, culture experts and PGR interns to deliver a complex portfolio of work. Kay is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a National Teaching Fellow, both of which were awarded for strategic impact in postgraduate education. Recent projects include the Hidden Curriculum in Doctoral Education (Palgrave Macmillan), the Value of the Doctorate (research articles), Coaching and Mentoring for Academic Development (Emerald), Thriving in Part-Time Doctoral Study (Routledge), and the ​‘Supervising PhDs’ blog.

Kay joined the UKCGE Executive Committee in March 2024.

Elizabeth Halton completed her Master’s in Developmental Linguistics at UCL in 2007. Since then she has moved through various roles within Higher Education, some concurrently, including in management at the Institute of Psychiatry and Cardiovascular Division at King’s College London, and in teaching at Middlesex and Birkbeck Universities. 

She has been back at UCL since 2015, first managing a £20M+ Neurodegeneration Centre and prestigious Doctoral Training Programme and then joining the Doctoral School. She has been Director of the Doctoral School and Early Career Staff since 2021 where she supports 10k+ ECRs.

Dr Michelle Morgan is currently Dean of Students at the University of East London. Michelle is extensively published in the area of improving the student learning experience at undergraduate and postgraduate taught level in, through and out of the student study journey. Her two edited books that revolve around her Student Experience Transitions Model (SET) are designed to help academic and professional service colleagues support students. She has developed a free portal for staff that provides a range of information and links for anyone interested in improving the student experience in higher education www.improvingthestudentexperience.com

During her varied career, Michelle has been a Faculty Manager, Researcher and Academic. She describes herself as a ​‘Third Space Professional’ student experience practitioner who develops initiatives based on pragmatic and practical research. Michelle has over 50 publications and has presented over 130 national and international conference papers (including 45 keynotes and 30 invited papers).

Prior to her current post, she was Associate Professor and Associate Dean of the Student Experience at Bournemouth University. Michelle’s research includes being the creator and PI/​Project Lead of an innovative £2.7 million 11 university collaborative HEFCE grant looking at the study expectations and attitudes of postgraduate taught (PGT) students. The project report received praise from across the sector including UKCGE, OFFA, the HEA and the Engineering Professor’s Council and contributed evidence to the introduction of the Postgraduate Loan Scheme www.postgradexperience.org

In 2005, she was the recipient of a special award from the University of Sussex’s Students’ Union for Outstanding Achievement and Excellence. She is a Principal Fellow of the HEA and Fellow of the AUA. She was nominated for Teacher of the Year in 2011 and in 2015 she received the student-led L&T Award from the Students Union at Kingston University. She co-wrote and co-presented a 5 part Radio series for BBC China in 2011 on the student learning experience.

Michelle joined the UKCGE Executive Committee in July 2018 and has been re-elected several times, most recently in March 2025.

Paul Wakeling is Dean of the York Graduate Research School (from January 2025) and Professor in the Department of Education, University of York. He is a sociologist of (higher) education with special interest in postgraduate education in all its forms. His research has investigated inequalities (ethnicity, gender and social class) in access to and outcomes from postgraduate education, especially within the UK. His work has also included questions of funding and institutional stratification. This has led him to work with a wide range of UK sector bodies on postgraduate policy (at both master’s and doctoral levels), including Research England, UKRI research councils, Office for Students/​HEFCE, the Sutton Trust, and the Martingale Foundation. He is currently leading a workstream within the Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education, having previously been the programme analyst for HEFCE’s Postgraduate Support Schemes in 2013/14 and 2014/15 and a co-author of the Review of the PhD in the Social Sciences.

Paul was co-opted to the UKCGE Trustees in September 2024, with a special focus on taught postgraduates.

Luke is the Dean of the Leeds Doctoral College, looking after postgraduate research across a large and complex research intensive University. Prior to that he has held a range of leadership and management roles, including Faculty Pro Dean for Student Education and Deputy Dean for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures. He is currently on the advisory board of Generation Delta, and the management boards of the Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education and the White Rose Social Sciences DTP. He continues to supervise PGRs and carry out research, both on doctoral education and on musical behaviours.

Luke joined the UKCGE Executive Committee in March 2025.