Research contracts
What we do
The research contracts team enables the academic community in the Faculty of Engineering to engage with sponsors and collaborators across the globe, including corporate partners, academia, UK and international government agencies and research councils, and charities.
We work closely with academic and professional support staff in each department to draft, review, negotiate and approve the terms of various research-related contracts.
Contracts portal
If you want to request support with a research-related contract, please use our contracts portal (accessible with your College login).
How we can help
The team negotiates equitable terms that:
- maximise academic freedom and research income;
- minimise risks and administrative burden; and
- ensure the College meets its ethical, fiscal and legal obligations.
We are part of a multi-faceted system that integrates with other Faculty of Engineering functions e.g. research services (pre- and post-award), Industry Partnerships and Commercialisation (IPC) (growing collaborations with industry and ensuring seamless service on the tech transfer side), and development (advancing the Faculty’s mission); and central College functions e.g. Research Office (which includes the EU team and MTA-in team), International Relations Office (development of international relationships) and Legal Department (legal counsel and advice).
We also work in conjunction with IC Consultants to ensure integration of opportunities lead by Imperial’s consultancy arm.
Contact the team
Please get in touch with us via our central email portal, monitored throughout the day, on researchcontracts.engineering@imperial.ac.uk.
You will then receive an email advising which member of the research contracts team will assist with your request.
Meet the team
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Dimitrios Batsalas
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Location
Faculty Building, Level 2
Bio
Dimitris joined Imperial in April 2016. He previously worked at Middlesex University, negotiating contracts and providing advice on Intellectual Property issues. Dimitris has an LLB from Greece (where he is a qualified lawyer since 2008) and two Masters Degrees from UCL (2014, LLM in Intellectual Property) and the University of Warwick (2008, LLM in International Development Law and Human Rights).
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Mahesh Pillai
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Location
Faculty Building, Level 2
Bio
Mahesh joined the team in September 2018 after having worked in the Contracts Team at the University of the West of England, Bristol for two years and in various roles within the legal and claims management sector prior to that. Mahesh holds an LL.B from the University of Kerala and an LLM in Corporate Finance Law from the University of Westminster.
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Tsedey Hailu-Darge
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Location
Faculty Building, Level 2
Bio
Tsedey joined Imperial in September 2021 with several years of contract management experience, recently at Kaplan UK, previously at BT PLC as well as FMCG, Public Enterprise & Law Firm. She holds an LLB from the University of London, a PG Dip in Law from Middlesex University and a Certificate in Negotiation from Heriot-Watt University.
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Anna Fitz
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Location
Location
Faculty Building, Level 2
Bio
Anna joined Imperial in December 2022 as a Contracts Negotiator. Previously she was an associate at a Canadian law firm, where she practiced a broad cross-section of litigation. Anna received a Juris Doctor at the University of Ottawa, and a Bachelor of Arts at McGill University. She is also fluent in French.
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Mariana Jones
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Location
Faculty Building, Level 2
Bio
Mariana joined Imperial in January 2022 as a Contracts Negotiator. She previously worked as a Research Contracts Specialist for the University of Cambridge and prior to that, as a corporate solicitor specialising in corporate and commercial law, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions.
Mariana holds a degree in law from the State University of Maringá and an LL.M in International Tax from King’s College London. She is fluent in Portuguese and is a dual qualified lawyer, both in Brazil and in the UK.
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Manpreet Kaur
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Location
Faculty Building, Level 2
Bio
Manpreet joined the team at Imperial in September 2022. She previously worked in the contracts team at the University of Birmingham, negotiating contracts and handling the contract administration process. Manpreet holds a Master’s degree in law and a Legal Practice Course qualification from the University of Wolverhampton. She is also fluent in Punjabi.