Abi Rowson

Abi joins UPEN from the University of Leeds and the London Research and Policy Partnership (LRaPP). At Leeds she led the first Areas of Research Interest (ARI) programme delivered at Local Authority level, during a secondment to Leeds City Council’s Policy & Intelligence team. She continues in her role as Senior Policy Fellow at LRaPP, where she has developed and launched London’s first Areas of Research Interest, working closely with the Greater London Authority, London Councils and universities. Abi has served on UPEN’s ARI sub-committee and has advised councils, strategic authorities and universities on developing their own academic-policy engagement approaches.

With a background in Philosophy, Abi began her career in academia as a researcher and teacher before moving into research leadership. Most recently, she was Research Manager and Acting Head of Interdisciplinary Research at the Horizons Institute, University of Leeds, where she developed challenge-led research programmes and helped shape the University’s civic agenda.