09 Jul 2007
Brian Murphy is Cogent SSC’s new Research Director. He joins from Manchester Metropolitan University where he was Head of Chemistry and Materials. MMU is one of the largest providers of higher education (HE) in the chemical sciences in the country and by far the largest provider of part-time, study-through-work degree schemes.
In
this context Brian brings much experience of the education and skills
agenda. Commenting on his move to the
Sector Skills environment, he said: “It is an exciting prospect. The shift in
focus from supply-led to demand-led education and skills development identified
in the Leitch Review is wind to the sails of the Sector Skills Councils. “Industries
underpinned by chemical science and represented by Cogent are crucial to the
future capability of UK PLC in the
global knowledge and skills-based economy. Ensuring that our research captures
the UK
position and helps inform debate and influence strategic direction at Cogent
and at government level is a challenge that I respect and relish.”
At
MMU Brian led the growth of their premier part-time HNC and BSc (Hons) degrees
in chemistry and in recent years successfully piloted a blended online
distance-learning course so that the employer catchment extended as far as the
nuclear industry to the north of Manchester and
processing industries as far as the south coast of England. He said: “When I left MMU we were on the cusp
of embedding online HNC developments into blended-learning foundation degrees,
a development that I am sure Cogent will take a keen interest in.”
Brian
has also led a consortium of HE institutions in developing a national £300k
open-learning framework for part-time HE provision in chemical science under a
HEFCE STEM initiative. This work
will continue with Cogent research strengthening the evaluation process with
the “voice of employers”.
Brian
lives in Didsbury with his family.
Career History
Brian
has a sustained contribution over a 25-year career spanning diverse experiences
in a range of modern and traditional universities and industry in the UK and
abroad.
- BSc(Hons) Chemistry
- Queen’s University (Belfast)
- PhD Inorganic
Chemistry - Open University
- Postdoctoral Fellow
- James Cook
University of Queensland,
Australia
- Postdoctoral
Assistant - Sheffield
University (ICI-led fine chemicals project)
- Former Head of
Chemistry and Materials (25 academic staff; 300 students, HNC, HND and BSc
awards in chemical, pharmaceutical and polymer sciences)
- Regular external
examiner for UK
institutions
- Former Lecturer in
chemistry at the Polytechnic of
North London and UMIST
- Successful PhD and
postdoctoral supervisions
- 61 publications in
research and scholarship of learning and teaching
- £0.5m in income
generation in research and STEM
developments
- Chartered Chemist
- Member of the Royal
Society of Chemistry
- Fellow of the Higher
Education Academy
Please click here if you wish to contact Brian.
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