Staff Profile
Dr Laura McKenzie
Faculty Research Impact Officer
After completing a PhD in English Literature at Durham University in 2018, Laura was awarded an AHRC Creative Economy Engagement Fellowship to fund a project investigating Durham’s literary heritage in support of a prospective bid for UNESCO City of Literature status. In 2020 she managed the Vital North Partnership, a strategic partnership between Newcastle University and Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books, where she leveraged research, skills, and expertise from within both organisations to help them achieve strategic, impact-led goals. In 2021 she was awarded an AHRC R&D Fellowship at Zinc VC, where she mobilised Arts & Humanities research knowledge and methods within early-stage innovation to maximise impact and create applied solutions to complex societal problems.
Laura is passionate about supporting the flow of people and ideas between the academic SHAPE disciplines and other sectors, particularly within R&D and Innovation. She has held Visiting Fellowships at the Harry Ransom Center (Austin, TX) and Harvard University