Strategic insights into managing research [Episode 6]
Episode notes
Featured Scientists: Professor Deborah Sweeney, Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Vice-President (Research, Enterprise & International) and Professor Kevin Dunn, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research
In this episode you will hear from the leaders of research at Western Sydney University. Professors Deborah Sweeney and Kevin Dunn talk about their own careers in research and passion for discovery and change. Contact lenses for Deborah, prevention of racism for Kevin. Very different career trajectories have led Deborah and Kevin to the positions they are in today. Both share valuable advice about research partnerships internally and externally. Listen carefully to learn where both see the positive developments from now until 2030 at Western.
Professor Deborah Sweeney, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research, Enterprise and International)
Professor Deborah Sweeney is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research, Enterprise and International) at Western Sydney University. She provides leadership and vision to achieve the University’s strategic priorities for research, research training, enterprise and entrepreneurial activities and international teaching and research. Ensuring the delivery of the University’s strategic ambitions, Deborah is focused on excellence, impact and translation. She has oversight of research, research partnerships and international activities across Western’s Schools, Institutes and Strategic Research Initiatives.
Deborah joined Western in 2009 and has more than 20 years’ experience in research and research management. This includes her roles as Director of Research, College of Health and Science; Associate PVC Research (Health and Science); PVC Research and Innovation; DVC Research and Innovation and, from January 2020, DVC Research, Enterprise and International.
Deborah’s major research area is corneal physiology, her work has been instrumental in developing an understanding of the physiology of the human cornea and the effects of contact lens wear and refractive surgery on corneal function characteristics and the development of alternative forms of vision correction. Deborah has published over 100 refereed articles and several book chapters and is co-inventor on two patents. She has been the recipient of a substantial number of national and international awards and honours which reflect the excellence and impact of her research.
Professor Kevin Dunn, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research
Kevin Dunn is the Pro Vice-Chancellor Research at Western Sydney University. He is a leading researcher in the geographies of racism, immigration and settlement, Islam in Australia, local government and multiculturalism, and racism and anti-racism. He has championed local anti-racism, bystander activism and online action, as a means to address racism in direct, relevant and more contemporary ways. Kevin’s research has highlighted the culturally and spatially uneven distribution of citizenship in Australia. As a leader on the Challenging Racism Project, he has developed and lead Australian Research Council funded projects that have generated comprehensive databases on racism and anti-racism, and operationalised novel concepts, such as Anglo privilege, belief in ‘race’, and bystander responses. At Western he is responsible for global rankings, research infrastructure, funding and integrity.
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