From Mass Spectrometry to National Strategy: My Journey in Research Infrastructure
Abstract
This video is a talk from the Data Steward Stories session at the CaSDaR Townhall Launch event on the 18th September 2025, in person at the Library of Birmingham and online. The presentation speaker was Anneke Lubben, who now works for the Ellison Institite of Technology. Speaker Bio: Anneke Lubben is Director of Research Infrastructure and Facilities at the University of Bath, where she leads the development and delivery of the university’s research infrastructure strategy. Her work spans everything from capital investment and digital infrastructure to ensuring researchers have access to cutting-edge equipment, expert support, and sustainable, inclusive facilities. She’s passionate about making infrastructure genuinely useful to the people who rely on it—whether that’s through smarter spending, better resource sharing, or championing the technical staff who keep everything running. Anneke’s journey into research infrastructure began during her PhD, where she spent countless hours processing samples by mass spectrometry and discovered a love for tinkering with instruments and solving problems. That curiosity led her to Bruker Daltonics before returning to academia at Bath, where she built and led research facilities at both Department and Faculty levels. This work eventually evolved into the university-wide Core Research Facility department, which she now oversees. Over nearly two decades at Bath, Anneke has remained committed to making sure equipment doesn’t sit unused after a single project—a frustration that continues to drive her work today. She’s also a strong advocate for technical staff and smarter infrastructure investment, and her leadership has earned her seats on strategic advisory boards for GW4, the Royce Institute, and various UKRI research councils. She currently chairs the UKRI Facilities Strategic Advisory Board for the national large-scale multidisciplinary facilities at Harwell, and sits on the UKRI Infrastructure Advisory Board. She’s also led successful funding bids for major capital equipment and the X-CITED programme for Research Technical Professional (RTP) development. A personal highlight was being promoted to Professor of Research Infrastructure—despite not being a traditional academic. Outside of work, Anneke is known for her love of gin, well-organised spreadsheets, and being gently banned from touching instruments (her team is convinced she’ll break something—and they may be right!). In today’s talk, Anneke will share her journey, the lessons she’s learned, and why RTPs are so crucial to the future of research. More information on the event can be found here: https://casdar.ac.uk/event/careers-and-skills-for-data-driven-research-casdar-hybrid-event-launch/ The uploaded video for this session can be found here: https://youtu.be/Cu8RXrdrwYQ This video is an output from the Careers and Skills for Data-driven Research (CaSDaR) initiative, a 4-year UKRI funded dRTP initiative, grant number UKRI739.