Prestigious appointments

Professor Ole Petersen CBE FRS (Director of the School of Biosciences) and Professor Jim Murray (Leader of the Molecular Biosciences Division) have been appointed to prestigious national posts.

Following a competitive and open recruitment process, The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has announced the appointments of the Chairs for the subject-specific Sub-panels for the 2014 Research Excellence Framework: (REF 2014)

Ole Petersen has been appointed Chair of the Biological Sciences Sub-panel. He will lead a sub-panel of experts in assessing University-based research in the biological sciences in the whole of the UK. The results of the REF 2014 exercise will be the basis for the distribution of the Government's basic research funding to Universities in the UK.

Ole Petersen has also been appointed Member of the Welsh Assembly Government's new Science Advisory Council for Wales.

The new Council will be chaired by the Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales, Professor John Harries and will provide advice on a full range of science, technology, engineering and mathematical issues. The former Director of the School of Biosciences, the Nobel Laureate Sir Martin Evans FRS, who is now President of Cardiff University, has also been appointed Member of the Science Advisory Council for Wales.

Jim Murray has been appointed Member of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council's (BBSRC) Bioscience for Industry Strategy Panel

This panel provides strategic input on industrial user needs and knowledge transfer activities and is responsible for taking the lead in developing BBSRC's evolving Technology Strategy to ensure research support is relevant to industrial needs and in line with the BBSRC Strategic Plan.