UPCSE Tutors

On this page, you’ll find out more about our Undergraduate Preparatory Certificate for Science & Engineering (UPCSE) tutors.

Karen Keenan

UPCSE Course Coordinator and Biology Tutor

Karen Keenan has a first class degree in Biology. She studied at the Royal Holloway University of London. She then entered teaching, gaining a PGCE at Reading University. She became head of Biology in a UK school after three years of teaching. She then developed science teaching and learning at a number of international institutions. She is currently an examiner of Biology for the Edexcel exam board.

Dr Aga Kosinska

Chemistry Coordinator

Dr Aga Kosinska is a senior Chemistry teaching fellow. She is also the Chemistry coordinator on the UPCSE. She has two Master's degrees. The first is in Chemical Technology from the Gdansk University of Technology in Poland. The second is in Analytical Chemistry from University of San Francisco. She received her PhD in Medicinal and Organic Chemistry from the University of St Andrews.

In 2010, she became a Chemistry teaching fellow at UCL’s Centre for Preparatory Studies in Kazakhstan. She returned to the UK as a lecturer in Extended Science at Plymouth University. She then completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice. Aga is now a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

Dr Deborah Gater

Chemistry Tutor

Dr Deborah Gater teaches on the UPCSE Chemistry subject. She studied at Imperial College London. She has two Master's degrees. The first is in Chemistry. The second is in Protein and Membrane Chemical Biology. She also has a PhD in Chemistry. She has worked as a journal editor and a post-doctoral researcher. For more than five years, she taught undergraduate chemistry in the United Arab Emirates. Her research interests are in chemical education, solid-state NMR and membrane biophysics.

Dr Ramesh Satkurunath

Mathematics Coordinator

Dr Ramesh Satkurunath teaches on the UPCSE Mathematics subject and is the Mathematics Coordinator on the UPC. He taught on the UPCH Mathematics subject prior to this. He studied Mathematics with the Philosophy of Mathematics at King's College London. Before starting his PhD, he volunteered for Oxfam for a year. His PhD is in Homological Algebra from the University of Southampton. He then spent a year tutoring students before joining UCL.

Rena Sherman

Mathematics Tutor

Rena Sherman has taught mathematics in both the UPCH and UPCSE programmes since 2007. She majored in Mathematics at the University of Cape Town. She taught in high schools and wrote for a distance education college. For 10 years, she taught mathematics at the University of the Witwatersrand. She was an election officer and a peace monitor in the country's first democratic elections.

Dr Chris Fenwick

Mathematics Tutor

Dr Chris Fenwick obtained his first degree in Mathematics and Computing before being awarded a Master’s degree in Numerical Analysis from Brunel University and a Master’s in Space Science from UCL. His PhD in mathematics education was awarded by Brunel University. He has over 30 years’ experience in the support and delivery of subjects relating to mathematics.

Vincent Gimbert

Physics Coordinator

Vincent Gimbert has a Master’s degree in Physics and Engineering from Grenoble INP and Imperial College London. He specialised in nano physics and climate physics research. He later obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education from UCL. Vincent taught mathematics and physics at secondary and undergraduate level. He joined the UPCSE team in 2010.

Dr Ioannis Koutsonas

Physics Tutor

Dr Ioannis Koutsonas has a Bachelor's degree in Physics with Astrophysics from the University of Birmingham. He has a Master's in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces from Imperial College London. He conducted research in Nanotechnology and Micro-devices at the University of Birmingham. Dr Koutsonas obtained his PhD in 2009. He has taught Physics and Engineering for over 10 years at the Universities of Birmingham and Queen Mary University. He has also taught in a number of colleges. He has been a Lecturer in Physics on the UPCSE since 2010.