Dr Shelini Surendran

In my roles as the Programme Director for the Foundation Year in Biosciences at the University of Surrey and the former Head of Biology at Farnborough College of Technology, I have gained significant management experience while actively engaging in international research and teaching collaborations. My PhD research enabled me to work alongside global research teams, making significant contributions to the field of nutrition through nutrigenetic studies conducted in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Brazil, and India. Currently, I serve as an editorial board member for Frontiers in Nutrigenomics, Indonesian Journal of Medical Sciences and Public Health, and the Journal of Global Nutrition (Indonesia), further demonstrating my engagement with international academia. I am currently co-leading a guest editorial for the genetics of obesity journal (https://link.springer.com/collections/eheefhfhgh)

Throughout my career, I have demonstrated a commitment to international education and exchange opportunities. I provided guest lectures at the University of Henan in China, where I offered students the opportunity to study an introductory genetics module in English for the first time. I have experience teaching English to students in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as volunteering at English language summer camps in countries across Eastern Europe. Currently, I volunteer as an English teacher for Women's Empowerment Sri Lanka, offering classes to women from underprivileged backgrounds. Furthermore, I act as a supervisor in the Collaborative Online International Learning programme, a partnership between Surrey University and CEU Universidad San Pablo in Madrid.

I have been awarded grants for placements at the University of Helsinki in Dairy Cow Nutrition and completed two Erasmus staff mobility programmes at the University of Malmo, Sweden, and the European Innovation Academy in Timisoara, Romania. In April 2023, I embarked on another Erasmus staff mobility programme in Trinidad and Tobago to develop a COIL project related to educating primary school students about indigenous plants.

More recently, I placed 2nd in a global Hackathon by Beiersdorf, where 130 international talents competed to develop next generation skincare business solutions. This experience of working in a global interdisciplinary team led me to create a skincare startup company called Ceilán Ltd., to empower marginalised farmers in Sri Lanka, and I consequently won ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the University of Greenwich (2022), this was the institution I had previously studied at for my PGCE.

In my current role in FHMS and more widely across the University of Surrey, I have actively sought opportunities to enhance student employability and enterprise skills. I have led and organised a Hackathon project at Surrey, which has enabled students to collaborate within interdisciplinary groups and tackle real-world problems relating to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Several industry partners, including organizations such as WWF, GRACE (gynaecological cancer) charity, Yakult Ltd, and the U.K. Environment Agency, have been involved in the project. This project not only offered students valuable experiential learning opportunities but also showcased my ability to effectively manage complex, interdisciplinary projects involving multiple stakeholders. The winning student team from this year's hackathon had the chance to travel to Ahmedabad, India, to take part in a global leadership programme.

I have also been asked to lead and organise a global hackathon and student enterprise week in Singapore in December 2021 and 2022, involving students from 18 Singaporean and British universities as part of the UKSAEI partnership.

Another aspect of my role involved transforming the hackathon into a credit-bearing Global Graduate Award in Entrepreneurship. This idea was inspired by my visit to the University of Malmo, where I encountered credit-bearing hackathons. The new module will be introduced in September at the University, having been approved by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Academic and Quality Enhancement Subcommittee. This innovative module promotes interdisciplinary collaboration and mentor-guided learning through hands-on tasks. Additionally, it plans to incorporate a global networking session, enabling students to collaborate on sustainability-related challenges with their peers from the UPGN partnership.

In recognition of my dedication to active learning, I received the 'Early Career Teacher of the Year' award at Surrey in 2021 and co-edited the book 'Active Learning Network Collaborative Book: 50 Ideas for Active Learning' which was created with authors around the world.

My roles:

• Final year undergraduate dissertation supervisor and marker (Biomedical science BSc , Biochemistry BSc and Masters Biochemistry)
• Lead for the University Hackathon project
• Level 6/7 Student Staff Liaison Committee convener
• Chair for the Level 3 Board of Examinations School
• Supercharged group (Innovative teaching practise group) member
• Foundation Year Sharing Practice committee member
• Student enterprise champion for promoting enterprise activities across University