Skip to main content

Staff Profile

Dr Nicola Simcock

Research Culture Manager

  • Telephone: 0191
  • Address: Research & Innovation
    Newcastle University
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU
Background

As Research Culture Manager I have a broad and diverse role, currently focussed on the delivery of the first Institutional Research Culture Action Plan. I work closely with a variety of teams across the University to enhance and sustain the environment and culture for our entire research community. Consultation with our community, and responsiveness toward their changing needs is vital in my role. Our research community have identified four key attributes for a positive Research Culture: Collaboration and Collegiality, Freedom to Grow and Explore, Fairness and Inclusion, Openness and Integrity, it is these attributes that shape all the activities I lead and support.


My previous roles at Newcastle were as a Research Associate, working on the honey bee taste system and viral susceptibility.


Google Scholar: Click here.

SCOPUS: Click here.


Research

Previously I worked on a project investigating the rates and transmission of the increasingly prevalent Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus in the lab of Prof Giles Budge. The project aimed to understand how the virus interacts with the host and spreads, allowing us to develop an evidence based toolkit for bee farmers in the field.  


My first postdoctoral project was interested in the chemosensory system of the honey bee, in particular gustation and how the bee encodes the taste of specific foods. The insect gustatory system is relatively understudied in comparison to all other sensory systems and yet the principals in which it functions are applicable to range of animals, including ourselves. The honey bee provides an ideal model system for this work as it encodes sensory information using a greatly reduced number of gustatory receptors which allows for greater ease and accuracy of recording. 

Publications