Since completing my PhD in Mathematics in 2008 I have been working as a skills trainer and consultant. Through my success in academic research I know the value of time and project management. My focus is to help people achieve real change and growth, and to help people take control of their development.

I am passionate about the development of innovative resources and programmes for promoting personal effectiveness, teamwork and creativity. I have created original exercises for strengthening teamwork, collaboration and communication.

I am always looking for novel methods to get people talking and thinking about their development.

I have produced online content to support training courses, and written articles for GRADBritain, Manchester STEPS and the University of Liverpool’s PGR Newsletter.

I regularly work with North West HEIs, and have delivered training sessions to over 1700 postgraduate research students. These courses cover a wide range of skills areas and training that are essential for research success.

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In 2010 and 2011 I was a Guest Director for the University of Liverpool’s First Year Skills Workshops, a programme that I have been involved with since 2008. In 2011 I facilitated ten Introduction to Research one day workshops for the University of Manchester’s EPS Faculty.

I have been involved on local GRADschools in several roles. As well as providing tutoring and facilitation on these programmes, I am an experienced Course Manager. I have facilitated on Vitae’s Effective Researcher programme, both for PGRs and Research Staff, and have also been involved with the Collaborative Researcher and Leadership in Action programmes as a facilitator.

In 2010 I was awarded Vitae Innovate funding for my proposal “NonZeroSum” which created an original training game to support researchers exploring collaboration. This Creative Commons-licensed resource was released in May 2011 and is available here.

In my spare time I enjoy reading (both paper media and on my Kindle) and am always looking for interesting creative projects: writing, making, gaming and knitting! In the last few years I’ve travelled a lot; a five week road trip across the USA in summer 2009 was followed by a three week visit to Japan, and I re-visited New York and Las Vegas on honeymoon with my wife in 2010. I started an Open University Open Degree in autumn 2011 with the aim of getting a BSc in “interesting stuff”.