Meet Professor Rachel Bearon - new Executive Dean of NMES

Welcome to the Faculty Rachel, what’s it like to be the new Executive Dean of the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences?

I’m very excited to be leading the NMES Faculty at a time of substantial and sustainable growth, including through the King’s Interdisciplinary Science programme. Building on the global reputation of King’s and with the support of college investment, we can firmly establish NMES at the heart of King’s and position us as a leading university for education and research in the natural, mathematical and engineering sciences.

What are your priorities for the first six months as Executive Dean?

As knowledge makers and sharers, people are the most important resource we have. I have been warmly welcomed to the Faculty over the past few months, and high on my agenda for the first six months is to listen and learn. The recent staff survey provides useful insight into the concerns of all of our faculty members and we working to address those with robust action plans. I am also looking forward to visiting all five constituent departments which make up NMES during my first month, to learn more about the strengths and challenges in different areas.

As I mentioned at the Faculty Forum in November, open communication channels are crucial to ensure staff are well supported, and to enable agility in responding to internal and external drivers. This is already an important priority for the Faculty Communications Team, and I’m looking forward to seeing how we can improve the dissemination of information and ensure there are strong two-way dialogues between departments and the central faculty team.

Another priority is to shine a spotlight on education. Our academic and professional services staff work tirelessly to support students. To make their jobs easier and to continue growing our national and global reputation, changes to the student experience are needed, so we can attract a diverse student body with the highest academic potential and ensure they thrive. I’m excited to work with the incoming Vice-Dean (Education) Professor Simon Banks on this.

Tell us about your background and career to date

Following undergraduate and PhD studies in Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, I took a detour to do post-doctoral experimental work in Biological Oceanography at the University of Washington in Seattle. This started my passion for interdisciplinary, collaborative research. I then joined the University of Liverpool as a lecturer, moving through the academic ranks to professor and, most recently, Head of the Department of Mathematical Sciences. Through various roles at Liverpool, and externally serving on the Council of the Institute of Mathematics and Applications, I have learnt the importance of good leadership, and have found satisfaction in working with and developing others to bring about positive change.

You’re a Professor of Mathematical Biology, could you tell us more about your research area and some highlights from your career?

There are two main interacting strands of my research: bioactive fluids and maths for health. In both cases, I develop and use mathematical models to tackle problems motivated by biological questions. In a current collaboration with tissue engineers, funded by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of animals in research, we are developing novel models to describe how drugs are delivered across the oral mucosa - the mucous membrane lining or “skin” inside of the mouth, including cheeks and lips. This involves probing the detailed cellular microstructure through a combination of imaging and computational modelling.

In the area of active biofluids, I have a long-standing interest in determining what are the right mathematical equations for micro-swimmers in fluid environments. This is important in health-related applications, such as biofilm formation in catheters, but also in ecological applications such as the dynamics of harmful algal blooms.

As Dean, what are your ideas for boosting and strengthening the quality of our research in the Faculty?

Beacons of disciplinary research excellence will be embedded in our departments, and we will foster interdisciplinary activity, that pushes back the frontiers of scientific knowledge. Building upon these core strengths, we will be confidently outward looking, at the forefront of developing innovative solutions to current and future global challenges.

Key to this will be the King’s Interdisciplinary Science (KIS) project, as well as our interdisciplinary research centres – including the AI Institute, CUSP (London), the Centre for the Physical Science of Life, and the Net Zero Centre. We will identify new opportunities for synergies within the faculty, embracing emergent ideas from departments in areas like quantum technology and materials, in line with internal priorities for the college and the external funding and impact landscape.

With King’s global leadership on Health and its close partnerships with NHS foundation trusts, we will seek to strengthen links with the health faculties focussing on areas where we can add most value.

We will also continue to foster successful partnership working between academic and PS staff to deliver on ambitions to increase research income and enterprise and engagement opportunities across the faculty. We will also build on the success of the recently established NMES graduate school, including looking to expand placement schemes and matched PhD studentships to increase our career development offerings.

What will you be focusing on to build our educational excellence and support our communities of students ?

Through programmes such as the new interdisciplinary Natural Sciences degree, alongside our core offer, we will provide students with high academic potential an inspiring education that is firmly rooted in the natural, mathematical and engineering sciences and develops their confidence to be creative leaders in a wide-range of careers.

I also want to better understand the challenges and opportunities across the student journey, from our school outreach activities through to graduate outcomes, and to understand where improvements can be made including aligning to the college-level Student Success Transformation Programme.

Open communication between the faculty, departments and the university will be crucial for success, as will partnership working between academics and professional services. We will identify where professional support and technological solutions can most effectively be deployed to ensure students are supported throughout their journey, that their courses are running smoothly, and we have robust processes for quality assurance.

We also need to actively seek out the student voice and get input from a wide range of stakeholders on issues such as how we attract under-represented groups to study science at King’s, enable innovative interdisciplinary curriculum design, and embed team-based learning which celebrates the value of diversity and develops students as creative problem solvers.

Are there any other ideas or innovations that you’re keen to introduce to the Faculty?

In an often highly competitive, academically excellent environment, we need to ensure that there is strong leadership to support a healthy and supportive working culture. We will set high ambitions, and encourage a high-risk high-reward culture, but also provide supportive mentorship and an openness of asking for and giving advice to maximise opportunities for success.

Our faculty will recognise and value the full range of academic contributions across research, education and collegial activity. We will value the skills of our educational innovators who share good practice to improve our teaching, and ensure innovation and enhancement in education is valued on an equal footing to research.

To deliver on our commitment to EDI, we need strong leadership, a willingness to undertake self-reflection, and appropriate structures and systems in place. We are recruiting a new Vice-Dean (People & Planning) which will ensure that EDI has senior representation within the faculty leadership team.

And finally, the role of Executive Dean is pretty full on, what do you like to do in your spare time to switch off from the job?

I enjoy spending time with my family, and you’ll usually find me either in the kitchen or the garden when I’m home. I find being physically active a good way to relax mentally (I run, swim and cycle very slowly), and my ideal family holiday includes walks in beautiful countryside or dancing at folk festivals.