Executive Secretariat
The GRC’s Executive Secretariat supports operations of the entire governance structure of the GRC as well as its yearly cycle, including liaising with Annual Meeting and Regional Meeting hosts.
While until 2024 the Executive Secretariat was hosted by one GRC participating organisation for a period of five years, it is now transitioning to a distributed model, which enhances resilience and sustainability by distributing tasks and responsibilities across several GRC participant organisations, aiming at regional balance over time.
GRC participating organisations are frequently informed about opportunities to contribute resources to the Secretariat.
The Executive Secretariat is composed of two complementary components:
Management Team
The Management Team serves as the operational core, responsible for the continuous coordination of activities, day-to-day operations, and cross-functional leadership. It requires sustained resource commitments and the deployment of staff who work as a cohesive team, with Managers accountable to the Executive Secretary and Deputy Executive Secretaries.
Current Management Team
| Executive Secretary | |
| Michael Bright | UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) United Kingdom |
| Deputy Executive Secretaries | |
| Felina Wittke (on leave) | German Research Foundation (DFG) Germany |
| Phindile Masimula | National Research Foundation (NRF) South Africa |
| Jordan Girardin | Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Switzerland |
| Managers | |
| Nia Glover | UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) United Kingdom |
| Rosemary Thompson | UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) United Kingdom |
| Vireshni Moonsamy | National Research Foundation (NRF) South Africa |
Previous Executive Secretaries
The following persons acted as Executive Secretary since the establishment of the Global Research Council in 2012:
- 2024–2027: Michael Bright (UKRI, United Kingdom)
- 2022–2024: Euclides de Mesquita Neto (FAPESP, Brazil)
- 2017–2022: Michael Bright (UKRI, United Kingdom)
- 2015–2017: Rainer Grühlich (DFG, Germany)
- 2012–2015: Graham Harrison (NSF, United States)
Divisions
Divisions are distinct workstreams that may be ongoing or time-bound. They are managed by one or several GRC participating organisations and require more flexible, task-specific commitments. While resource needs vary by workstream, Divisions typically draw on dedicated focal points and institutional support rather than full-time team deployment. Current Divisions include:
| Division | Contributing Organisations |
| Artificial Intelligence (scoping exercise) | Research, Development, and Innovation Authority (RDIA), |
| Collaboration & Neutrality Task Group | Secretariat/Co-chair contributors National Research Foundation (NRF), South Africa Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), United Kingdom Group members National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Dutch Research Council (NWO), Netherlands King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Japan Science Europe |
| GRC Website | Science Europe |
| Communication Strategy | National Science Foundation (NSF), United States |
| Global Innovation Index (scoping exercise) | Research, Development, and Innovation Authority (RDIA), |
| International Collaboration Strategy | Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Switzerland Science Europe |
Contact
For all GRC-related queries, please contact the Management Team at grc@ukri.org