Ray Nolan

Senior Lecturer / Researcher

• Department of Service Sector Management

Summary

As a lecturer I formally deliver undergraduate and postgraduate lectures within the university's Business School. I provide learning, teaching and assessment opportunities for a range of modules.  This includes a specialist role of providing support with under and postgraduate students from a variety of backgrounds; advising and guiding the planning, structure, methodology and analysis of their academic work and research so as to develop strategies for independent learning.  I achieve this by assisting students to interpret assignment, assessment and research criteria and then proactively give support in structuring their research and response. 

As a researcher I participate in a variety of activities: proposal writing, identification and scoping, data gathering, analysis, interpretation and dissemination including stakeholder liaison.  This includes managing a programme of international projects proposed to [SHU-]TICOS (Tourism Industry Carbon Offset Scheme), a SHU-LTA Fellowship project, and consultancy work with external partners such as Natural England and UNCTAD.  I have also participated in policy research networks e.g. UNEP ICRI, UKHTC R&E Forum.  In addition, I have delivered CPD workshops; clients include HSBC and the NHS. Funding bids have included EU FP7, EU DGJLS and ESRC. 

As a Research & Development Manager with the UKHTC, I drew on key interpersonal skills in professional networking and wide experience in the research field to enhance the UKHTC capacity and better engage the research community. Using a sound understanding of the research environment, researchers' rationale and incentives for engagement, I was able to proactively take forward the work of the UKHTC. In my role, I provided a 'platform' for interaction between 'agencies' and the wider research community. This is best exemplified in the raised awareness I have generated both in the research community and at the UKHTC of opportunities in the UK government and EU central research funding programmes. These programmes have a clear 'knowledge transfer' [academia-industry-public sector] agenda for 'applied' research ranging from victim-perpetrator profiles to practitioner training, data collection and information management in the UK and internationally.

In developing funding bids and UKHTC research activities I have reflected the rationale for engaging in research into all areas of human trafficking as clearly set out in the EU Convention and UK Action Plan along with calls from within the UN - ODC, ILO, IoM, etc. Along with colleagues at the UKHTC I have utilised personal knowledge and experience of organisational engagement dynamics to gain the participation of each of these organisations as partners in proposals for EU funding (bids worth > €6million about to be submitted are currently under consideration). In a number of proposals the UKHTC is leading the 'end user consortium'. As R&D manager in a recent EU FP7 I played a central role engaging (and maintaining engagement) Europol, Interpol, Eurojust and a number of [THB] police / border agencies from across Europe in a joint proposal to develop better information-intelligence management and sharing.