Sarah Chaytor joined the Office of the Vice-Provost (Research) in 2009 and established UCL Public Policy in 2012. Her current role includes overseeing the UCL Public Policy programme and building UCL’s capacity to engage with public policy, as well as advising the Vice-Provost (Research) on research strategy and other aspects of his portfolio, leading UCL’s research policy work, and managing strategic projects.

She is a co-investigator and Co-Chair of the Project Delivery Group for the £10 million Capabilities in Academic-Policy Engagement project.

Prior to joining UCL, Sarah worked as a research fellow at the Russell Group, leading work related to research funding and policy. She previously held research policy roles at the Wellcome Trust and Universities UK, and before that worked as a parliamentary researcher and for a think tank. She was a co-founder of UPEN, the Universities Policy Engagement Network, and is co-chair of the UPEN Futures Working Group.

Sarah has a MA in Issues in Modern Culture from UCL and a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Oxford. 

E: s.chaytor@ucl.ac.uk 

Olivia Stevenson

Deputy Director of UCL Public Policy

Dr Olivia Stevenson joined in 2015 and is responsible for leading the UCL Public Policy programme.

Focused on generating collaborative opportunities, Olivia develops strategic initiatives to improve the quality of engagement between academic research and public policy. She is co-lead on the Capabilities in Academic-Policy Engagement (CAPE) project.

Olivia is a cofounder of the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN) and has delivered a range of internationally recognised high impact research projects, published widely, most recently on structural and relational inequalities.

Olivia has a PhD in Social Geography from the University of Leeds.

E: o.stevenson@ucl.ac.uk

Katherine Welch

Deputy Director of External Engagements and Partnerships

Katherine joined the team in 2017 and is responsible for supporting UCL researchers and academics to connect their work with strategic partners across academia, policy, third sector and professional organisations. She is leading UCL Public Policy's work on climate and net zero as well as Artificial Intelligence and work.

Katherine was previously Deputy Director and Manager of the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, establishing alongside the Director the Institute's research, teaching and engagement agendas. Prior to joining UCL, Katherine worked in the mining sector as a journalist and editor for global mining publication, Mining Journal.

Katherine has a first-class honours in Geology and a Masters in Quaternary Science.

E: k.welch@ucl.ac.uk 

Grace Gottlieb

Head of Research Policy

Grace joined the Office of the Vice-Provost (Research) in 2017 and drives forward UCL’s research policy agenda, leading on policy development and advocacy of UCL’s positions. She also works on implementation of the UCL Research Strategy, including leading the development of internal policy. At present her work focuses on analysis of R&D funding and promoting transparency and reproducibility in research.

Before joining UCL, Grace worked at the Medical Research Council and, prior to that, in health policy at the Royal College of Surgeons.

She has a BA in Natural Sciences, specialising in genetics, from the University of Cambridge.

E: g.gottlieb@ucl.ac.uk

Prof Graeme Reid 

Chair of Science and Research Policy at University College London (UCL)

Prof Graeme Reid spent most of his career at the interface between science and government, working in the Business Department, the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury before moving to UCL in 2014.

In preparation for Brexit, Graeme and Sir Adrian Smith advised the UK Science Minister on frameworks for international collaboration in R&D. Government published their report in 2019. Graeme advised the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee during their extensive inquiries into Brexit and, more recently, industrial strategy.  He led research policy reviews for the Scottish Funding Council, Welsh Government and Universities Wales.

He is on the Board of the National Physical Laboratory and Chair of NPL’s Science and Technology Advisory Council. He is a strategic advisor to the National Centre for Universities and Business. Previous appointments include chair of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, trustee of the Association of Medical Research Charities and member of the Council of CERN.

Graeme began his career at the National Engineering Laboratory. He has a BSc in Physics and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Fellow of the Institute of Physics, Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and a Chartered Engineer.

E: graeme.reid@ucl.ac.uk

Dr Robyn Parker

Project Manager for the Research England funded project Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement (CAPE) project

Dr Robyn Parker joined the team in April 2021 and manages the CAPE project across the 5 consortium partners of UCL and the Universities of Cambridge, Manchester, Nottingham and Northumbria. Her role involves overseeing the CAPE project mechanisms, communications, budget and governance.

Robyn previously managed an ESPRC funded Centre for Doctoral Training in heritage science at UCL and her background is more broadly in doctoral education, engagement, and public policy.

Robyn has a PhD in Medieval History from the University of Sheffield.

E: robyn.parker@ucl.ac.uk 

Kayleigh Renberg-Fawcett

Project Coordinator on the Research England funded Capabilities in Academic-Policy Engagement (CAPE) project

Kayleigh joined UCL in April 2021 and focuses on four mechanisms to test and evaluate what works and doesn’t work for academic-policy engagement. Kayleigh works closely with colleagues across UCL, the CAPE consortium, project partners and UPEN to ensure learnings and opportunities are shared.

Prior to joining UCL, Kayleigh was the Network Manager of the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN) and is currently Co-Chair of the EDI Sub-Committee. She was also Director of the China-Britain Football Centre, which connected young people in the UK and China through football. She’s also supported on the University of Nottingham’s Asia Research Institute and Institute for Policy and Engagement.

Kayleigh has an MSci in Global Issues and Contemporary Chinese Studies from the University of Nottingham. She studies Mandarin and Swedish and is working towards her Mountain Leader qualification.

E: k.renberg-fawcett@ucl.ac.uk 

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