Phil Ward

Phil Ward has been Director of Eastern Arc since 2019. He is responsible for the strategic leadership and development of the Consortium, and has worked closely with senior leaders to identify areas of common interest and value between its members. He led on the Consortium’s strategy 2020-25 and the forthcoming strategy 2025-30.

My Background

Phil has worked in research management for more than 20 years. Before joining Eastern Arc as its inaugural director, he was Deputy Director of Research Services at the University of Kent, working strategically to maximise the University’s research income and its research culture more broadly.

Previously he worked for the Arts and Humanities Research Council, so has an understanding of research funding from both sides of the fence.

He engages widely within the sector, and is currently Chair of the ARMA Editorial Working Group, leading its work in redesigning and relaunching its membership magazine online. He has presented extensively at conferences and led individual workshops at a number of universities, as well as producing the award-winning Research Fundermentals blog, which has been the touchstone for help, humour and commentary within the UK research community since 2009.

In addition he has written for a range of other publications and platforms, including Research Professional, where he undertook a secondment as a commissioning editor. He is co-author (with Tseen Khoo and Jonathan O’Donnell) of Getting Research Funded: Five Essential Rules for Early Career Researchers (Routledge).