Dr Karen Hinxman is the Head of the White Rose University Consortium. She is responsible for leading and managing the alliance between the universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York, and developing and delivering the Consortium’s overall strategy.
She gained her PhD in Structural Biology from the University of York before joining a research institute affiliated with McGill University, Canada. Two years later she returned to the UK to undertake a three-year Research Associate position at the University of Warwick. She later joined Imperial to start her career in Researcher Development.
Karen is passionate about improving Research Culture as evidenced by her former work as a Consultant at the Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre, Imperial. The centre’s remit is to create and maintain a positive and supportive research environment for the 2,400 research staff at the university, while also supporting those who manage researchers. During her time at Imperial, Karen oversaw the strategic work of the centre which included being the institutional lead for the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, establishing a university-wide committee which oversees the professional and personal development of researchers (from postgraduate to senior academic leaders) and instigating a comprehensive guide for academics on how to lead successful teams.
During 2022-23, Karen was Chair of Reseachers14, a national group of Researcher Developers from the Russell Group who together represent over 65% of the research staff community in the UK.
