Executive Board

Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation

Biography

Richard Thomas is Interim Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Leicester. Building on his previous role as Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise and Dean of the Doctoral College, and Dean of Research and Enterprise for the College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, this role entails providing strategic leadership for all aspects of research and enterprise across the institution. 

As Dean of Research and Enterprise, Richard led the successful Panel C and D submission for REF2021, and set in motion the plans for the Policy Institute and Heritage Hub. As Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise and Dean of the Doctoral College, he launched a new researcher induction programme, Fellowship Academy and Research Leadership Academy. He also overaw a significant improvement in PGR satisfaction, and increased PGR recruitment, including through the implementation of the F100 and F50 scholarship schemes.

Richard’s personal research in the archaeology of animal health brings together arts and humanities, physical sciences and life sciences. He has a sustained track record of world-leading scholarship and external funding success, most recently securing a major Leverhulme Trust project grant to shed new light on the mummification of birds of prey in Ancient Egypt. 

He is an active field archaeologist, having co-directed excavations locally at Bradgate Park, and is currently involved in the excavation of an early Neolithic settlement in Central Anatolia. Richard also has a long-standing commitment to public engagement and research communication, evidenced by his media engagement, which has included working with Sir David Attenborough on a documentary on the life of Jumbo the elephant.