ARRC Team

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Steven Wooding – Head of Research on Research, Project Lead

Dr Steven Wooding is Head of Research on Research in the Research Strategy Office at the University of Cambridge, a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Science Policy. His central research interest is how research itself works: from funding processes; to the social machinery of research and the wider impact of research. He has recently looked at the evidence behind using peer review for funding allocation and worked with foundations to develop improved methods of selecting research projects to boost innovation. Alongside his research interests Steve is lead for Outputs for the University of Cambridge’s submission for REF2021. Steve has broader interests in the use of evidence in policy; and approaches to visualising concepts and data. Previously, Steve worked at the Centre for Science Policy as Lead for Research; and at RAND Europe where he was Director of the Innovation Health and Science team. He advises on various projects around the assessment of research.

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Lara Abel – Researcher

Lara's academic background is in Psychology and Computer Science. In her doctoral thesis she studied the effect of emotions on probabilistic cognition. Lara also studies Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford and works as a freelancing market researcher.

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Debbie Birkett – Project Administrator

Debbie joined the ARRC project in November 2023 and is responsible for supporting the researchers with the administration of projects and events.  She has a variety of experience including executive support for a Biopharmaceutical company and more recently working in events and communications at the University of Cambridge. Her main interest is in supporting the team to achieve results that will help shape the future for research culture.

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Luisa Ciampi – Researcher

Luisa is a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge for the ARRC project. Luisa is a social scientist who has conducted research in the field of International Development for several years, particularly in the African context.  Whilst her specialism is in gender and communication studies, Luisa has worked on and lead multiple research studies the fields of agriculture, climate change, and education.

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Mollie Etheridge – Researcher

Mollie is a PhD researcher in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Her doctoral research explores how the transition to parenthood and/or desired parenthood changes academics’ engagement with the norms of academic labour. Mollie has an expertise in feminist social theory, which she combines with her qualitative methodological background to practice creative forms of inquiry, including screenplay methods, body-mapping and word association. She is currently following her passion for understanding and improving the processes of knowledge production by working as a Research Assistant on the Action Research for Research Culture project.

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Becky Ioppolo – Researcher & Project Coordinator

Becky is interested in understanding the characteristics of high-performing research environments, particularly in universities. She has worked on several research projects at the University of Cambridge analysing how research block funding is used, how to improve research culture, and how to identify and mitigate disparities in grant funding. Previously, Becky worked at RAND Europe where she contributed to similar studies for UK and EU government entities and charities on science and innovation policy topics. She has also worked in the science & public policy interface abroad at the National Governors Association (USA) and in Western Australia as well as in university administration. Becky has a BA in Environmental Studies from Earlham College and an MSc in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

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Noam Tal-Perry – Researcher

Noam graduated with a PhD in Psychology from Tel Aviv University School of Psychological Sciences and was a Rothschild Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. He holds a special interest in meta-science, research integrity, and applied statistics, both within the Social Sciences and more broadly in research systems.

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Yingjie Li - Researcher

Yingjie is interested in workplace relationships and hiring practices, particularly within academic settings. Her doctoral research combined computational modelling, Bayesian statistics, and behavioural experiments to explore supervisory relationships. She is especially interested in conducting research that informs and improves research culture and decision-making processes in academia, including issues related to career progression and job security for early career researchers.

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Allison Beggs - Research Assistant

Allison is a research assistant for the ARRC project, with a background in international policy and applied social research. She previously contributed to a grant funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Indian Department of Science and Technology, examining barriers to photovoltaic (PV) solar adoption in India. Her master’s dissertation investigated systemic obstacles prompting the emigration of UK medical students after qualification. Allison’s research interests include motivational theory, researcher mobility, and evidence-based policy development. She also brings experience from her work with the United Nations on employment policy development. She holds a BSc in Sociology from Washington State University and an MSc in Human Resource Management from King’s College London.

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Molly Smith - Research Assistant

Molly is a Research Assistant for the ARRC project, with a particular interest in making research career pathways more accessible and improving relationship dynamics within academia. Alongside her work in the ARRC team, she is studying an MSc in Public Policy at UCL. Molly has previously contributed to several research initiatives, including exploring health disparities among inclusion health populations and examining how the relationship between the judiciary and public administration both reflects and shapes democratic practices.