The committee aims to have at least one research staff representative from each department in the division.
One of the co-chairs of MPLS RSF sits on the Divisional Board, the governing body of the division. The other co-chair sits on the MPLS Training and Development Steering Group. Both co-chairs sit on the Research Staff Consultative Group of the University. Issues discussed at meetings of MPLS RSF can then be raised at divisional and institutional levels. Two representatives from MPLS RSF (usually the co-chairs) sit on the MPLS ECR Forum.
Current Co-chairs: Adina Pusok and Ed Darnbrough
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Adina Pusok
Adina Pusok is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences, investigating the role of magma in the dynamics and deformation of Earth’s tectonic plate boundaries. She became a postdoc representative because she believes in active personal development and community involvement. Her primary objective is to create a dynamic postdoc community in the department. Since every researcher contributes to the academic and lab culture, she wants to enable postdocs to make more active choices to improve the postdoc experience in the department and university.
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Ed Darnbrough
"The importance of research staff and culture is not only of paramount importance for future funding but also important for making a place everyone wants to work."
Ed Darnbrough is a postdoc in the Materials Department working on micromechanics and atomic resolution microscopy of materials for solid state batteries. His work with OxRSS and Prof David Gavaghan helped formalise staff representation in the university leading to the formation of the researcher hub and he sat on the inaugural Research Staff Consultancy Group. This work and his time on the Research and Innovation Committee gave him a strong understanding of the way the university works as well as connections to structures that allowed him to truly representing all staff as the Research Staff representative on the 2022 Oxford Vice-Chancellor Selection Committee.
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Current MPLS Research Staff Forum committee members
Updated March 2025
Profiles
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Chris Terry
Chris Terry is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Department of Biology. He is a community ecologist, working towards understanding how whole communities of species will respond to climate change against a background of ongoing environmental variability using a combination of theory and lab experiments. He became a representative to be part of driving a positive agenda to improve the wider working environment of postdocs.
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Adam Mulkern
Adam Mulkern is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biology, studying the within-host evolution of antimicrobial resistance, particularly in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using high-throughput technologies and large-scale in-vitro evolution experiments, his work explores how genetic diversity shapes resistance development in clinical settings. He became a representative to advocate for postdocs and contribute to a supportive and inclusive research environment.
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Stephen Marshall
Stephen is a postdoctoral research associate in Chemistry. He joined the University of Oxford in 2021 after eight years in Manchester completing his PhD and further postdoctoral study. His main research interest is in understanding how enzymes are able to perform complex chemistry using structural biology and biophysical techniques, and how the knowledge can be utilised to the benefit of society.
Stephen became a research representative to improve research culture in academia to allow a healthier work-life balance for all, and to improve the wellbeing and inclusiveness of academia.
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Stefano germano
Stefano is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Computer Science. He was also an MPLS Enterprise and Innovation Fellow for several years. His research focuses on how Artificial Intelligence and Semantic Technologies can improve knowledge management and reasoning in non-conventional environments.
He believes that creating a positive and supportive community is essential for fostering innovation and excellence and that researchers deserve a healthy work environment where they can thrive both personally and professionally. His aim is to listen to and amplify the voices of researchers, ensuring that their needs and concerns are heard and effectively addressed.
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Joseph Asplet
Joseph is a postdoc on the Department of Earth Sciences, who uses seismology to study dynamic Earth processes at a range of scales, both spatial and temporal. He has been working to develop methods to model the detection capability of different micro-earthquakes monitoring technologies for offshore CO2 storage sites. As part of this project, he installed an eight element seismic array in North Yorkshire. He is also studying how seismic anisotropy measured using signal from micro-earthquakes can be used to obtain stress orientation and magnitude in near surface rocks passively (i.e., without having to stress them out further by drilling).
Joseph is a member of the Oxford Net Zero research initiative and is secretary on the UK National Committee to the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG).
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Patrick Salter
Patrick is an Early Career EPSRC Fellow working in the Department of Engineering Science, with research interests in laser manufacturing and optical microscopy. He has been active in research at Oxford for over 10 years and believes strongly in creating a positive environment for research staff in academia. He was previously chairman and one of the founding members of the Engineering Science Research Committee.
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Basia Maciejewska
Basia is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Nanomaterials by Design group within the Materials Department. Her research focuses on the development of new manufacturing and "green" processing methods for functional fibrous materials used in thermal management applications.
She has recently won the 2022 MPLS Outstanding Supervisor Awards, recognising individuals promoting and implementing an inclusive and welcoming environment in their research group.
This year, she has been elected as the Chair of the Materials Postdoc Association Committee (MPAC), and she has been an active member of the MPA since its founding in 2020. Additionally, Basia represents materials postdocs at the divisional level within the MPLS division.
Her vision for the postdoc community, spanning both the departmental and divisional levels, is centred around empowering, valuing, recognizing, and supporting postdocs in their current endeavours and future pursuits.
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Kai Shinbrough
Kai Shinbrough is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Oxford Ion Trap Quantum Computing Group in the Department of Physics, where he works toward fast quantum gates and continuous variable quantum computing in the ion-trap platform. Kai has a wide range of experience organizing for DE&I service and labour rights for graduate students; in the RSF he aims to leverage this experience to benefit post-docs in MPLS.
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James Gillanders
James is a postdoctoral researcher based in the Department of Physics. Specifically, working in the Astrophysics sub-department, and his research focuses on finding, classifying, and observing some of the most extreme and energetic stellar explosions and mergers in the Universe. James has a particular interest in neutron star mergers, as observations of these can help to advance our understanding of the production mechanism for many of the heaviest elements (such as platinum and gold). He became a representative as he feels passionately about postdoctoral researchers being well-represented and supported during their time in Oxford.
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Matt Raybould
Matt Raybould is a postdoctoral researcher in the Oxford Protein Informatics Group, based in the Department of Statistics. He works in immunoinformatics, applying a combination of structural biology and statistics to understand better the inner workings of the immune system and to apply this knowledge to the development of novel medicines. He became a representative to continue the excellent work of previous committee members in raising awareness of the challenges faced by postdoctoral students.
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The Researcher Training and Development Manager
Supports MPLS RSF by acting as a secretary to the committee, providing continuity, induction for new members and giving briefings on specific subjects.
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Dr Justin Hutchence
Researcher Training and Development Manager, MPLS Division, University of Oxford
Justin is an experienced coach, facilitator and trainer who once was an academic teaching and researching international relations. He leads a team that delivers a training and development programme for 3600 DPhil and Post-Doc researchers within the MPLS Division. The provision covers a number of different themes including: research skills, personal and professional development, enterprise, public engagement and research leadership. The mean average feedback for all the courses the team delivers annually has ranged between 8.4 and 8.6 out of 10 since 2016. Justin chaired the panel that judges the UK Three Minute Thesis competition for DPhil students 2017-19. He is now Chair of the Vitae Researcher Careers Working Group.
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