Jo Garrad

Jo joined the REL team in January 2023. She was previously the Research Funding Development Manager at Bournemouth University for ten years. In her role, she contributed to increasing the university's research income by:

• leading a team advising academics on funding schemes and opportunities,
• developing grant applications,
• providing substantial research training opportunities across the university, and 
• developing the universities research strategy and several initiatives to grow research capacity and income, and international collaborations.

Jo also previously worked at the UK research councils for 22 years. For the most part, she supported the peer review process for disseminating UK government research funding. In the last three years at UKRI (UK Research and Innovation), she was the Evaluation Manager, responsible for international reviews of the impact of scientific programmes and making recommendations for future investment.

While at Bournemouth University, Jo was a key member of the Athena Swan charter team to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research. As part of this team, she led the introduction of ‘Menopause in the workplace’ policy to provide guidance, training, and support ‘cafes’ to both staff and managers in supporting those effected by menopause.

Jo currently lives in the New Forest, UK, and enjoys bird watching, music, football, and running.