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Midlands' universities group appoints new director

The leading research intensive universities in the Midlands have appointed their first Director to oversee the development of an exceptional HE partnership, which aims to harness their combined research power and bring significant economic benefits to help make the Midlands the Engine for Growth.

Dr Helen Turner has been appointed Director of the M6 Group,which is between six leading UK Universities - Warwick and the universities of Birmingham, Nottingham, Loughborough, Aston and Leicester - and the British Geological Survey (BGS).

She brings significant experience to the role having spent the last seven years as Director of the Midlands Energy Consortium, where most recently, Dr Turner played a key role in the successful £60m bid to establish the Midlands Energy Research Accelerator.

The partnership of Midlands’ universities was originally established to facilitate the sharing of expensive equipment between research intensive universities and with business.

Our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nigel Thrift said:

We're delighted to welcome Dr Turner as the inaugural Director of the M6 Group. Dr Turner brings a wealth of experience to this exciting and challenging role. We look forward to working closely with her, and our partner institutions, as we move forward."

Over the last two years the ambitions of the partnership have grown significantly and today there are a growing number of collaborations across the Midlands focused on rebalancing and driving economic recovery by combining research power and industrial strengths.

Our Pro Vice-Chancellor for Science, Engineering and Medicine, Professor Tim Jones said:

Dr Turner's skills and experience are an excellent fit with the ambitions of the Group to become an engine for growth in the Midlands. Her role will be key in ensuring we can continue to deliver successful collaboration between universities in the Midlands, bringing substantial economic benefits to the region.”

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I am delighted to have been appointed and believe the timing is right to strengthen the academic partnerships with the Midlands. There is a wealth of existing collaboration and best practice here which we should shout about and which will help to strengthen the messaging about the capabilities and opportunities within the region and provide much needed leadership and advocacy for the Midlands Engine.” Dr Helen Turner.