Director of the NRPDTP Retires

Prof Dave Evans, Director of the UKRI-BBSRC Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NRPDTP) and Chair of the Norwich Bioscience Institutes Graduate School, has retired. He took on these roles in May 2017, when he returned to the John Innes Centre after a five-year period at the University of Hull. In Hull he was appointed Head of the Department of Chemistry and then, following a reorganisation, Head of the School of Mathematics and Physical Sciences. Prior to this, he was a Group Leader for 26 years, first at the Nitrogen Fixation Laboratory at the University of Sussex and then at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, after being relocated in 1995. His research interests encompassed bioinorganic chemistry, Mössbauer spectroscopy and bionanotechnology.

Dave has been an integral part of the NRPDTP and his dedication and contributions have played a pivotal role in the success and growth of the Partnership. He successfully secured ca. £20M funding from UKRI-BBSRC and the Partners for the third iteration of the DTP. He led the NRPDTP at two very successful mid-term reviews of the doctoral training grants for which he was responsible. His leadership, passion, and commitment to advancing bioscience research and postgraduate education, and his mentorship and support of colleagues has been valued and much appreciated across the Norwich Research Park.

Dave said, “It has been a great pleasure and a satisfying experience working together with students, supervisors, the NRPDTP Board and Operations Team to ensure that we have one of the best Doctoral Training Partnerships in the country. I wish the Partnership continued success in the future”.

In his retirement Dave intends to do more for Norwich Friends of the Earth, where he is already an active campaigner, and recently has been appointed Treasurer of the Royal Society of Chemistry East Anglia Local Section. He plans to keep hiking and enjoy spending more time with his family and grandson.