Meet the Executive: Dr Lorna Thomson

Lorna tells us about her new role in Team Finance.

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Lorna Thomson

What is your role in Team Finance?

I am Director of Edinburgh Research Office, which recently aligned with Finance to provide an end-to-end service for the research community at Edinburgh.

Tell us a bit about your department…..

Edinburgh Research Office is here to enable researchers deliver the highest quality research. We support the community from idea to impact – looking for new opportunities and influencing policy, crafting applications, managing awards and delivering impact. We’re also leading University wide initiatives on Research Integrity, Responsible use of Metrics and an Academic Talent Strategy for Research Funding.

What have you got coming up in 2019/20?

Our priority is to ensure our new colleagues from Research Grants settle into the office well. It’s a really exciting opportunity to look at how we can improve process between pre-/post-award and our Contracts, Governance and Integrity Team to provide the most effective and efficient service for our researcher community. We’ve done some great work within the office on our culture and working practices and I’m also keen to further that this year.

What does an average day look like for you at the moment?

Varied – and that’s what I love! Over the last couple of days I’ve met with one of our leading researchers, taken part in a review of clinical trials, explored a partnership opportunity with another university, worked on our new ethics management system and interviewed to bring new colleagues into our team.

What keeps you busy outside of work?

I enjoy baking, running (allows me to keep eating cake), hill-walking and trying new restaurants.