Dr John Kirkland has over thirty years experience in higher education, research and international development.    His roles have included six years as Director of Research Services, Brunel University. UK, Director of Human Capacity Developmet / Deputy Secretary-General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (1999-2017), two spells as Chief Operating Officer at the UK National Institute of Economic and Social Reserach, and Interin Director at the UK Collaboratie for Development Research.  He has written widely on international research management, and sits on Advisory Boards and Steering Committees of several programmes in the field.  He currently chairs Diversity in Development, a UK charity which seeks to make international more accessible as a career.