Dr Catherine Lichten is a Senior Analyst at RAND Europe with expertise in research and funding policy. Her research interests include research culture and evaluation – understanding how research systems interface with society, and how research policy influences culture and behaviour in the research environment. She has conducted policy research for a wide range of research funders and other organisations, including the European Commission, the National Institute of Health Research, the Wellcome Trust, the Royal Society, and the UK’s Department of Health. Recent and ongoing projects include an analysis of pregnancy research funding and priorities in the UK, large-scale surveys on the international mobility of researchers, a review on the mental health and wellbeing of researchers, evaluations of a major UK biomedical research centre and of a health innovation funding programme, and development of a pilot monitor of Open Science trends in Europe. She also has an interest in antimicrobial resistance policy, and her projects in this area include an evaluation of the EU’s Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance and a study exploring antimicrobial resistance policy using historical and futures analysis, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Prior to joining RAND Europe, Catherine worked as a journalist covering research policy and funding news in Europe and the UK for the publications Research Europe and Research Fortnight. She holds a PhD in computational biology from McGill University and has worked as a researcher in the US, Canada and UK.