Research interests:
John Kirkland has spent two periods in senior administrative roles at NIESR, from 1994-99 and 2018-20. His other career roles have included those of Deputy Secretary-General at the Association of Commonwealth Universities, Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and Director of Research Services at Brunel University. He has undertaken consultancy work for agencies on all five continents and been a Visiting Professor at the Universities of Pretoria and the West of England
John’s main interests involve the development of research capacity and partnerships in low and middle incomes countries, and access to international development opportunities for lower socioeconomic groups in the UK. He Chairs or sits on Steering / Advisory Boards for research programmes funded by DFID / FCO, UKRI, IDRC (Canada), World Health Organisation and African Academy of Sciences. He is also Chair of the UK based charity School Club of Zambia, which promotes entrepreneurship in schools.
Education:
PhD - Brunel University. 1989
MSc - Politics, Government and Modern History, Brunel University, 1980
Employment:
2018-20 Chief Operating Officer/Head of External Affairs , NIESR
2017-18 Senior Research Advisor, Wellcome Trust (and other consultancy work)
2007-17 Deputy Secretary-General, Association of Commonwealth Universities
1999-07 Director of Human Capacity Development, Association of Commonwealth Universities
1994-99 Company Secretary, NIESR
1988-94 Head of Research Services, Brunel University
