Symposium Speakers

Symposium Theme: Nurturing Professionalism in Research Management

Keynote Speaker

Professor Cheryl de la Rey has been Vice-Chancellor at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand since 2019. Before moving to New Zealand, Professor De la Rey was Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

After an academic career in Psychology, she took up her first executive role at South Africa’s National Research Foundation. Subsequently, she was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cape Town and then the CEO of the Council on Higher Education before moving into a Vice-Chancellor position.

Professor Cheryl de la Rey currently serves as Chairperson of the Association of Commonwealth Universities. She is also the Chairperson of Universities New Zealand and a member of the board of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

Sub-Theme 1: Humanising Research Management

Keynote Speaker

Ms Herweg is a Senior Research Project Manager and Research Management Professional at Wits Commercial Enterprise (Pty) Ltd (Wits Enterprise), a wholly-owned company of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits).

With 16 years’ experience in Research Management, Barbara’s practice has become Post Award focused with a special interest in multi-national and commercial projects but also the dissemination of RM skills to both young RM professionals and early career researchers. She leads a team of 5 Post Award practitioners and is committed to the RM Community of Practise as well as the Professionalisation of RM.

Prior to this, Barbara was with the Wits where she gained experience in the Research environment, general business and financial management practices which together provide a strong foundation for her current role.

Invited Speaker

Professor Dr. Shahir serves as the Vice President of the Innovation and Technology Managers Association (ITMA) in Malaysia. In his former role at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), he held the esteemed position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), where he led research and innovation development. His responsibilities included managing research strategy and fostering a culture that aligns with the core values and principles of the University, working in collaboration and support with members of management and staff.

He is an experienced manager characterized by rational curiosity and a tenacity for rapid execution. His leadership and hands-on involvement in the strategic and operational aspects of MyRA have provided him with invaluable expertise, allowing him to engage a wide array of stakeholders within the R&D ecosystem. His dedication to innovation and growth continues to influence the fields of research and technology in Malaysia.

Invited Speaker

Lo May Chiun earned her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a First-Class Honors, specializing in Investment Finance from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). She completed her Ph.D. (in 2 years) specializing in Organizational Behavior from Universiti Sains Malaysia. Prior to joining UNIMAS, she had hands-on experience in the business environment with Malayan Banking Bhd. She is currently the Senior Director at Research Innovation & Enterprise Centre at UNIMAS and a Professor with the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB). Her up-to-date Google Scholar Citation is 5,789 with h-index 35. Her SCOPUS h-index is 18. She had supervised 25 Ph.D. and 64 Master students and out of these students, 14 Ph.D., and 57 Master students have successfully completed. She was also the external examiner for 15 Ph.D. and two Master students, and internal examiner for four Ph.D. and 15 Master students. To date, she produced a total of 288 papers in various publications.

Sub-Theme 2: Responsible Reporting

Keynote Speaker

Invited Speaker

Dr. Yensi Flores Bueso is a passionate molecular biologist and holder of a Marie Curie Fellowship that brings together the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington, Seattle, and the Cancer Research Centre at University College Cork, Ireland. In addition to her scientific work, she is a dedicated advocate of diversity and inclusion within academia through her membership of the Executive Committee of the Global Young Academy (GYA) and the steering board of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). She participates actively in science policy and science communication initiatives, advocating for research assessment practices that foster diversity, inclusion, and fair evaluation, with a particular emphasis on early career researchers worldwide.

Sub-Theme 3: Research Impact

Keynote Speaker

Professor Dr Ainurul Rosli is Reader in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship and Director of Business Engagement at Brunel Business School, Brunel University London. She is the co-chair of Practice and Impact SIG of Institute Small Business and Enterprise (ISBE), UK and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has led four projects that embedded pathways to impact and social value calculations both in the UK and Malaysia.

Dr. Rosli is a member of Social Value UK, and has co-authored various papers in reputable journals. She incorporates strategy, social impact, and entrepreneurial practice in her work and emphasises the importance of a purposeful work/project that leads to value creation for any collaboration. Co-creation, Impact, value and ecosystem development have been key themes throughout her work. She is currently the President of Social Innovation Movement (SIM) and believes in the importance of university-community interaction and research with impact, which drives forward businesses and societal transformation. Her previous professional experience includes various entrepreneurship, strategy and innovation consulting work in London and Malaysia. She is an Entrepreneurship Team Coach and Entrepreneurial Mindset Practitioner and is currently serving as a board member for Brunel Business School, Brunel University London, UK. She is also leading the Brunel Small Business Leadership Programme to support small business leaders during Covid-19 pandemic, supported by Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) UK.

Invited Speaker

Shaliza Ibrahim has over a decade of experience in research management, recently completing her term as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at Universiti Malaya.  She led the project on Malaysian Research Management and Governance, and one of the outcomes was the Malaysia Association of Research Managers and Administrators (MyRMA).  As founding President, she aspires to take research management in Malaysia to a professional level, and for MyRMA to promote it in the South East Asian region.  MyRMA advocates research impact assessment and qualitative measurement, full economic research costing, and open science and data sharing.  A chemical engineer by training, Shaliza has co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed papers in the field of mixing and hydrodynamics, wastewater treatment and biohydrogen.  

Julie Wilkens McMahon joined Times Higher Education as Regional Director (APAC) in 2017. Based in Melbourne, she works closely with senior leaders across government and higher education in an advisory and commercial capacity. With a focus on Australia and Southeast Asia, she works with organisations to identify challenges and develop solutions to inform strategy and build reputation. Julie holds a Juris Doctor degree and practiced law in the United States for ten years prior to working in higher education.