Vivienne Collins

Vivienne is responsible for the operational administration of the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit (BNDU), overseeing the activities of c. 90 staff, students and visitors split across the 3 Unit sites. She liaises with the Unit Director, other Unit members, professional services staff in the host Departments, Unit collaborators and the MRC to help to manage the Unit’s research portfolio. Her role covers:

• Unit strategy and governance
• Preparation of annual reports, accounts and assurance documents for the MRC
• Financial management and planning
• Research grant management
• Human resource management and planning
• DPhil student administration
• Public Engagement & Communications

Vivienne started her career as a research cell biologist with an MRC-funded PhD studentship at the University of Edinburgh, followed by a postdoctoral position at the MRC Radiobiology Unit at Harwell. She then spent 14 years at the UK Atomic Energy Authority at Harwell (later AEA Technology plc), undertaking contract research on a range of cell biology projects, before moving away from the bench and into research administration.

She spent 9 years as Unit Administrator of the MRC Functional Genomics Unit in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, before joining the newly opened MRC BNDU in 2015.