Helen Jones

 Helen Jones

Director of Research, Business and Innovation

Research, Business & Innovation

Contact Details

Profile

Helen joined RBI in February 2021 from the University of Bath and the University of Sydney, Australia, where she led strategic external engagement, grant capture, knowledge exchange activity, large scale, and multi-party business research collaborations, intellectual property protection & commercialisation,  contract negotiation, business incubation as well as coordination of institutional funding programmes to accelerate high impact results of research.  

Additional Information

Helen has a background in Biochemistry from Warwick University and over 20 years' experience leading innovation programmes and teams in the private and public sector. This includes Innovation program management in the corporate (FMCG) sector across the UK, Australasia and Asia Pacific, most recently leading multi-state R&D teams and operations for the commercial arm of the largest Australian & New Zealand owned food manufacturer.  

Originally from Wales, Helen brings to Aberystwyth University expertise in varying funding landscapes, economic climates, and institutional profiles.  This enables her to foster support structures for long term research partnerships, multi-national and multi-disciplinary collaborations; apply business acumen to the research funding environment while managing operational risks, in addition to leading high performing professional teams.  

Responsibilities

Helen provides strategic leadership of Research Business & Innovation (RBI). This involves supporting the university executive in the development of strategies, policies and structures that build, govern and report research at Aberystwyth University, as well as managing services that support researcher efforts to fund, monitor and translate their research in a way that achieves the widest possible impact and benefits society. 

Helen's responsibilities include the growth of external research funding, development of the university's knowledge exchange capability, external engagement on research & innovation matters including that with Government, Research Councils, public and private sector organisations and communities, as well as being a delegated signatory for contracts and representing the University as Director of its subsidiary companies.