Dr Anneke Lubben appointed as Director of Research Infrastructure and Facilities

Dr Lubben, currently Head of MC², has been appointed as Director of Research Infrastructure and Facilities, and will start the new role on 1 July 2022.

Dr Lubben joined the University in 2006 as Mass Spectrometry Manager in the Department of Chemistry, after various Mass Spectrometry Application Scientist roles at Bruker. Since arriving at Bath she has helped to establish and lead both the Chemical Characterisation Facility (CCAF), and the subsequently formed Material and Chemical Characterisation Facility (MC²). She is Chair of the EPSRC Strategic Advisory Team for Capital Research Infrastructure, and on both the MRC Strategic Advisory Group for Capital Infrastructure (ICSAG) and Strategic Advisory Board for the Royce Institute. Additionally, she was founder Chair, and now represents Bath, on the GW4 Technical Infrastructure and Knowledge Steering Group.

In her new role, Anneke will be working with the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Hainsworth, to ensure that the actions in the University strategy on research are fully realised. She will provide strategic leadership focussed on developing world class and sustainable research infrastructure and specialist research facilities across the University. This will include leading the development of a vision and its realisation by identifying, designing and delivering improvements to the University’s specialist research infrastructure and facilities for all stakeholders at Bath and beyond. Furthermore, she will support the PVC-R in taking a holistic approach to securing an evolving and appropriate shareable equipment base, to enable and accelerate the delivery of world-class research and teaching at Bath.

Dr Lubben said: “I am thrilled to be taking up this new role as Director of Research Infrastructure and Facilities. A connected research infrastructure landscape at Bath is something I have felt passionately about for many years, and I am very pleased to be able to take this agenda to the next stage. Infrastructure is the physical and people ecosystem which enables delivery of teaching and research excellence of our University. Bath has long been a though-leader in national discussions about effective equipment sharing and sustainable facilities management, and I look forward to working with stakeholders across the University to further embed these principles and processes to deliver a world-class infrastructure at Bath.”

Professor Sarah Hainsworth, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research), added: “This is a key appointment to support the delivery of our ambitions for growing our research infrastructure and delivering on the research strategy. This is a clear indication of the University's commitment to growing our research underpinned by an environment that enables our growth and expertise. I am delighted that Anneke is joining the team and I look forward to working with her”

Dr Lubben will work closely with the Senior Leadership Team and key staff across the Faculties, the School, the Doctoral College, and Professional Services to develop the research infrastructure and facilities and ensure that they are inter-connected, coherent and adaptable to drive excellence, support the continued growth of our research volume, respond to internal and external challenges, and augment the experience of principal investigators / researchers, end-users, companies, and other partners. She can be contacted by email at rif@bath.ac.uk.