Liz Towns-Andrews

Liz trained as a chemist and graduated with a PhD in X-ray crystallography before joining the Research Council system. Her first position was as a scientist at the UK’s original synchrotron radiation source at Daresbury in Cheshire working closely with UK academics. At that time her research included time resolved diffraction of biomolecular and polymeric systems but also required design and commission of large scale equipment to carry out this work. More recently, Liz has been the Director of Knowledge Exchange for the Science and Technolgy Facilities Council developing the organisation’s strategy for Knowledge Exchange and Economic Impact.

Through all this Liz has gained extensive experience of working with industry, of providing hi-tech services, the commercialisation and exploitation of IP, and of taking forward public/private partnerships. She also has an MBA and is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.

The interface between academia and industry is of great interest to Liz and she hopes the her in-depth knowledge of the Research Council system and wide-ranging networks with industry, government departments and regional agencies will be of value to the University.