Muffy Calder looks forward
Published: 23 October 2014
How will Professor Muffy Calder approach her role as the Head of the College of Science and Engineering? Reporter Claire Diamond has been to see her.
Professor Muffy Calder is due to return to the University of Glasgow in 2015 as Vice Principal of the College of Science and Engineering, following a secondment as Chief Scientific Adviser to the Scottish Government, writes Claire Diamond.
She will take up the VP post in January, and plans to continue her research even when she's head of the College. “I will still work on my research projects when I’m head of college and although the majority of my time will be spent running the college, I expect to still be thinking about research in the back of my mind every day.”
“I don’t want to be out of touch with academics, I still want to be an academic myself. In government I felt that it was important to act as a scientist and I think it's important for me to continue that in this role here.”
She also plans to bring with her some of the things she learned in government to her new role, such as evidence for policy and impacts of policy. “I also hope that as head of college I will be thinking about how the policies and decisions we take at college level will impact on individual students and staff. As a researcher myself, I will also experience policies in action, and what it feels like to be on the ground."
Professor Calder looks forward to returning to the University of Glasgow, and talked about the loyalty she felt: “Although I never studied at the University, I feel more loyalty to Glasgow than to any other university – it’s something I feel very strongly about. The university has been a very good place for me to work, and I want to give something back to the university. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. I didn’t want any vice principal job, I wanted this vice principal job. It is because there are such good scientists here, I want them to have an environment where they can do even better, and I want to tell the world about their work.”
She also looks forward to working with her peers: “I am looking forward to working with scientists and engineers again. I didn’t realise how used to talking to with them I was until I was taken out of that environment, and it's not just that they're scientists and engineers, it's that they're people for whom science and engineering is the first thing in their life that matters to them – just like it does to me. "
"I am looking forward to working with scientists and engineers again." Professor Muffy Calder
“I don’t need to tell them why it matters. I feel like I'm coming home, and it'll be nice to know that even when I'm not with scientists and engineers, I'll be with academics and students. I hadn’t appreciated until I left academia that there are certain ways of thinking and presenting arguments that we take for granted.
"The other aspect of returning that I’m looking forward to is being part of a team that makes decisions, as my role in government was primarily about influence.”
First published: 23 October 2014
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