Starting in February 2025, Johnathan Doran will join SSERC as the Education Manager for Biology. He previously held a lecturing post at Forth Valley College, where he delivered a range of applied biological sciences HNC and HND programmes and supported the College's STEM outreach activities.
Having initally trained as a biomedical scientist, John went on to specialise as a cancer researcher with a particular focus on solid tumours and immune cell infiltration before transitioning to a teaching career. Having taught across a range of institutions and subject areas in the Scottish further education sector, John has also delivered a range of science outreach classes to both primary and secondary school classes throughout the UK and has also undertaken teaching and assessment activities at a range of higher education institutions in recent years including at both The Open University and the University of Oxford.
“SSERC is excited to welcome John to the team; his arrival comes at a time when SSERC is preparing to celebrate its 60th birthday this year, and there is a lot of activity at SSERC HQ as a result,” said SSERC Chief Executive Officer Alastair MacGregor. “John will bring a lot of experience, enthusiasm, innovation and creativity to this post and to the wider work of SSERC, and we look forward to seeing him grow our professional learning offering in the years to come.”
John has a track record of successfully working with private companies and third-sector sponsors to deliver useful workshops for students and teachers. One recent project was to enrich ecology education by introducing owl pellet dissections to upper-primary classes.
Beginning a phased introduction to his post, John said, "Laboratory activities are a brilliant way to not only help our students achieve their syllabus objectives but also to grow their passion for science more generally. I'm really looking forward to working with teachers and lecturers to help more Scottish students benefit from practical science in the way that I did as a student."
He is a member of the General Teaching Council for Scotland and several other professional societies. In addition to his scientific training, John holds degrees in philosophy, English literature, and law. He is currently completing a PhD at the University of Exeter.
You can reach out to him via johnathan.doran@sserc.scot