Faces of Reading

I have been teaching pharmacy students since the Reading School of Pharmacy was established, with our first intake of less than 50 students in 2005. Now I am very happy to see how it developed into a very successful department delivering many undergraduate and postgraduate programs with several hundred students each year. 

Currently, I am Professor of Formulation Science and I teach undergraduate and postgraduate students and also contribute to the Graduate School with a course on ‘How to write a paper’. In addition to my teaching responsibilities, I supervise a large and very interdisciplinary research group, which includes postgraduate students and researchers from many countries. I am also a Programme Director for MSc by Research for 3 different programmes in Pharmacy and in this role, I oversee the delivery of teaching to our taught postgraduate students. 

I widely collaborate with researchers from many countries, which means that each year I travel to different institutions to deliver lectures, conduct joint experiments and attend research conferences and meetings. I am glad that the University of Reading provides a flexible working environment that helps to manage all my academic activities, including teaching, research, administration, and visits to collaborators in many countries. 

As well as my two regular clubs, I teach a group of pupils with learning disabilities once a month.

I started training in martial arts when I was 15 and really enjoyed it; I'm now a black belt, 3rd Dan. I found it beneficial to me physically, because I have cerebral palsy, and it helped with socialising as well.

I was lucky enough to be taught by a very good instructor, he is now the other instructor at the club and still trains me.

I'm in a wheelchair occasionally, but at work I'm sat down behind the desk most of the time with supportive staff around me. If I'm struggling a bit, there's always a way round it. Everyone is helpful and friendly, which always makes things easier.

I'm always keen to take opportunities to put on martial arts demonstrations to share it with the University and wider local community.

For example, there are days when I work at home so I can pick up my five-year-old son from school. My electric car cuts down on carbon emissions but unfortunately not on travel time; I still have at least an hour-long commute each way, so being able to work from home on certain days really helps to fit everything in.

There’s a lot of support for doing things differently at the University, and from my mentor and manager. In addition to flexible working, I also benefit from interdisciplinary research interactions through my work with the Centre for Past Climate Change, and I’m co-chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee in the School of Mathematical, Physical, and Computational Science.

Read more about flexible working in the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences.

I was encouraged by my first manager to use my initiative, to have the courage to develop new processes, to learn about different roles within the wider team and to volunteer for new opportunities – and this is a philosophy I have carried throughout my career. Early on I was also encouraged by a colleague to apply for a secondment, something I would not have independently considered. When I secured my first secondment, I was able to expand my knowledge, my experience and my network further.

Over the past 13 years I have held five different roles, ranging from school-based administration to centralised quality assurance and exams, and now as Head of Timetabling and Booking. I have always enjoyed the huge variety of the roles I have held. No one day is the same and I work with a range of colleagues from both academic and professional services.