S

Springer Nature

Academic publishing and scholarly content provider

Group Data Protection Officer

Full-TimeDeadline 10/25/26
No salary listed
Expert
Bachelor's, Certification
London, UK+2 moreMore locations: Heidelberg, Germany | Berlin, Germany
Hybrid
Risk & CompliancePrivacy & Data Protection

About the job

Requirements
  • In-depth knowledge of data protection law in the European Union and United Kingdom.
  • Experience implementing and maintaining a concise data protection framework.
  • Experience with consent requirements and developing consent management systems.
  • A degree or certificate in a data protection-related discipline, at least IAPP certification, and preferably a second proof of knowledge; a legal degree or certificate is welcome.
  • Experience with work processes in the legal department of a medium-to-large industrial company; experience in the communications, publishing, or information technology sector is preferred.
  • Familiarity with cross-functional collaboration in matrix organizations.
  • Fluent English and business-confident skills in another European language.
  • Experience responding to change and growth.
  • Strong organizational and time management skills.
  • Strong influencing and collaboration skills at all levels.
  • An analytical mindset and attention to detail.
  • A team-oriented, proactive, and adaptable approach.
Responsibilities
  • Inform and advise Springer Nature and its employees about obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation and other applicable European, European Union member state, or United Kingdom data protection provisions, applying governance, risk, and compliance management.
  • Cooperate with data protection supervisory authorities through effective and transparent engagement.
  • Act as the contact point for supervisory authorities on personal data processing issues, including prior consultations referred to in Article 36 of the General Data Protection Regulation and United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation.
  • Advise on data protection impact assessments and monitor their performance pursuant to Article 35 of the General Data Protection Regulation and United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation.
  • Track legislative and regulatory developments, including European Data Protection Board guidelines and supervisory authority guidance, and inform management of their impact.
  • Work with Governance, Risk and Compliance and Legal colleagues to provide aligned business advice about risk and compliance under the Artificial Intelligence Act and the General Data Protection Regulation and United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation.
  • Monitor compliance with applicable European, European Union member state, or United Kingdom data protection provisions and Springer Group policies relating to personal data protection.
  • Design, coordinate, and deliver staff awareness and training programmes, and monitor compliance as required under Article 39 of the General Data Protection Regulation and United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation.
  • Map data protection risks into the wider risk management framework, support internal audits, and ensure consistency with other compliance domains.
  • Coordinate external consultation on legal developments and lawsuits, and support global business projects with a data protection focus.
  • Continue developing and enhancing the existing Springer Nature data protection framework.
  • Prepare regular reports to senior management or the board on data protection compliance, risks, and key performance indicators.
  • Coordinate maintenance of Records of Processing Activities.
  • Coordinate incident response for data breaches, collect relevant information, and advise on notification duties.
  • Act as a contact point for data subjects, including handling access requests and complaints with support from operational teams.
  • Draft and update data protection policies, retention schedules, privacy notices, and related internal standards.
  • Advise on or maintain registers of data processors and sub-processors, support due diligence, and check contractual compliance.
  • Monitor international data transfer mechanisms, including Standard Contractual Clauses and Binding Corporate Rules, support Transfer Impact Assessments, and advise on related compliance requirements.
  • Assign responsibilities and distribute advisory and operational duties within the team.
  • Define, scope, and staff data protection development projects.
  • Coordinate cooperation with teams within the General Counsel’s Office and business partners.
  • Manage team performance and feedback workflows.
Desired Qualifications
  • Knowledge of data protection law in other jurisdictions, preferably including Indian law and United States state law.
  • Knowledge of European Union and United Kingdom digital law affecting data processing conditions.
  • Experience with joint risk evaluation and compliance of processing subject to the General Data Protection Regulation, United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation, and Artificial Intelligence Act.
  • Experience using data protection documentation and reporting tools, such as OneTrust.
  • German language skills.

About the company

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Springer Nature

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Springer Nature is a large academic publisher that produces journals, books, databases, and research management tools for researchers, educators, health professionals, and students. Its products include journals and books under brands such as Springer, Nature Portfolio, BioMed Central, and Palgrave Macmillan, available through subscriptions, author-funded open access charges, and e-book sales, with platforms like SpringerLink and MyCopy for access and print-on-demand copies. The company combines traditional publishing with open access to give researchers flexible ways to share and read work, offering both paywalled and OA options. Its goal is to expand access to high-quality research and support education, industry, and professional needs worldwide by improving discovery and scholarly communication across science, technology, medicine, humanities, and social sciences.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

Acquired

Total Funding

$3.6B

Headquarters

London, United Kingdom

Founded

2015

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What believers are saying

  • H1 2026 revenue rose 6.2% to €939.8m, with adjusted operating profit up 7.7%.
  • September 2026 Texas, Rice, and Cornell agreements expand uncapped Open Access publishing.
  • Springer Nature completed nearly all 2026 renewals and kept almost 100% retention.

What critics are saying

  • Springer Nature America laid off 24 workers in New York in June 2026.
  • The 2026 antitrust suit dismissal leaves peer-review pricing politically exposed.
  • Open access bargaining and AI platforms commoditize Springer Nature's journal gatekeeping.

What makes Springer Nature unique

  • Nature, Springer, and BMC combine prestige, scale, and diversified STM reach.
  • Springer Nature launched 39 journals in H1 2026, proving portfolio depth and editorial muscle.
  • Its ARC3 framework and OpenEvidence deal embed trusted content inside clinical AI workflows.

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Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • 401(k) Retirement Plan
  • 401(k) Company Match
  • Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account
  • Tuition Assistance
  • Pet Insurance
  • Legal Services
  • Employee Assistance Program
  • Disability Insurance
  • Life Insurance

Company News

ReseauMagickey
Sep 27th, 2026
New open-access journal puts sustainable polymers at the center of Materials Science.

New open-access journal puts sustainable polymers at the center of Materials Science. 5 hours ago 9 PROTECT YOUR DNA WITH QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY Polymers are quietly the most successful materials story of the modern era, and the scientific community is now giving them a dedicated stage. Springer Nature has launched the Journal of Materials Science: Polymers, a new open-access title created to advance the science, engineering, and application of macromolecular materials at a moment when the field is undergoing its most profound transformation in decades. The inaugural editorial, written by Professor Maude Jimenez of University Lille and Professor Gregory C. Rutledge of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lays out an ambitious vision: a publication that treats polymers not merely as versatile workhorses of industry, but as materials that must now be designed with sustainability, circularity, and environmental responsibility built into their very molecular architecture. The case for a polymer-focused journal rests on the sheer ubiquity of these materials. Few classes of matter have permeated society so thoroughly. The packaging that preserves food, the textiles that clothe billions of people, the medical devices that sustain life in hospitals, and the membranes, coatings, and components that enable renewable energy technologies all depend on polymers. What makes them so adaptable is their macromolecular nature: long chains of repeating units whose chemistry, architecture, and organization can be tuned across an enormous range of structures and properties. That tunability is precisely why polymeric materials remain, as the editors emphasize, exceptionally fertile ground for discovery and innovation, a point echoed in landmark perspective articles by Hillmyer, by Abd-El-Aziz and Antonietti, and by Jayaraman and Klok that charted the grand challenges of the field. What has changed, according to the editorial, is the precision with which polymers can now be made and understood. Recent advances in synthesis allow chemists to control chain sequence, topology, and molecular weight distributions with a fidelity that was unthinkable only a few years ago. Characterization techniques now resolve structure from the Angstrom scale of individual bonds to the mesoscale of crystals, lamellae, and networks. Computation and simulation, increasingly augmented by machine learning, let researchers predict properties and screen candidate materials before a single experiment is run. Together, these tools mean that polymeric materials are no longer discovered so much as designed, engineered to specification for target functions ranging from drug delivery to structural composites to ion transport in batteries. Yet the editors are explicit that technical capability alone no longer defines success in polymer science. There is, they write, a growing recognition that the game has changed: polymers must be conceived and used with sustainability in mind. Renewability, recyclability, and reduced environmental impact have become design objectives in their own right, complementary rather than subordinate to the traditional goals of function and performance. This reframing is significant because it moves environmental considerations from the end of the development pipeline, where they were often treated as regulatory constraints, to the beginning, where molecular structure and processing routes are first chosen. A polymer conceived for circularity from the outset faces very different synthetic and design trade-offs than one retrofitted for recyclability after the fact. The new journal is not appearing in a vacuum. It has its roots in the Journal of Materials Science, a title with a long-standing record of excellence across the materials community, and it inherits the same standards of peer review, publication ethics, and reproduction quality. What it adds is a dedicated space for the opportunities and challenges that are unique to polymers, sitting at the convergence of performance and environmental responsibility. The stated scope is deliberately broad, spanning molecular design and self-assembly at one end and advanced manufacturing and end-of-life strategies at the other, a range that mirrors the life cycle thinking now demanded of the field as a whole. Among the topics the editors single out are macromolecules that are precisely engineered, networks that can heal or adapt in response to external stimuli, and coatings that bring new functionality to surfaces. Self-healing polymer networks, for instance, embed reversible bonds or dynamic crosslinks that allow a material to repair microdamage autonomously, extending service life and reducing waste. Stimuli-responsive systems change shape, stiffness, or permeability in response to heat, light, pH, or electric fields, opening doors to soft robotics, smart packaging, and adaptive medical implants. The journal also explicitly welcomes polymer-enabled systems designed for energy, health, and environmental applications, as well as innovative contributions on circularity and the environmental impact of polymers, from chemical recycling routes that depolymerize chains back to monomers to biodegradable architectures that break down safely after use. The publication model is as much a part of the vision as the science. The journal launches as a Gold Open Access title, meaning all articles are immediately and freely readable worldwide, a choice the editors tie directly to objectives of accessibility, transparency, and inclusivity in scientific communication. For a field whose supply chains, waste streams, and policy debates are inherently global, unrestricted access to research findings carries practical weight: a materials scientist in one country can build directly on the latest results from another without subscription barriers, and policymakers weighing plastics regulation can consult the primary literature itself. The first article, published on 20 November 2025 as Volume 1, article number 1 for the 2026 volume, is the editorial itself, available under a Creative Commons license. Just as striking is the editorial team's framing of community. Jimenez and Rutledge argue that a defining strength of polymers is their appeal across disciplines, from chemistry and physics to data science, engineering, and industrial processing, and they commit to building a journal that bridges those fields and communicates across national boundaries. That breadth is not cosmetic. Solving the plastics sustainability problem, for example, requires chemists to invent degradable backbones, process engineers to make those materials at scale, computational scientists to predict degradation pathways, and industrial partners to build collection and reprocessing infrastructure. A forum where those perspectives meet, rather than publishing past one another in siloed venues, is arguably the kind of infrastructure the field needs as much as any single laboratory breakthrough. The editors close with a direct invitation to scientists and engineers in academia and industry to submit their best work, noting that contributions will shape what the journal becomes. For researchers, the launch adds a venue where scientific originality is explicitly weighed alongside awareness of the broader context in which polymers are developed and applied, a criterion that signals how far the field's values have shifted. For everyone else, the significance is quieter but real: the materials that wrap its food, carry its data, and mend its bodies are entering an era in which their next generation will be judged not only by what they can do, but by what happens to them afterward. A journal built around that dual standard is a bet that polymer science can deliver both, and the community now has a new place to prove it. Subject of Research: Launch of a new open-access journal dedicated to polymer science and sustainable polymeric materials Article Title: Editorial: Welcome to the Journal of Materials Science: Polymers Article References: Jimenez, M., & Rutledge, G. C. (2025). Editorial: Welcome to the Journal of Materials Science: Polymers. Journal of Materials Science: Polymers, 1(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44493-025-00001-2 DOI: 10.1007/s44493-025-00001-2 Keywords: polymers, materials science, Springer Nature, open access, sustainability, recyclability, macromolecules, polymer synthesis, self-healing materials, circular economy, scientific publishing, polymer science Cite Scienmag News APA MLA Chicago Copy citation Download RIS * homepage * biology * new open-access journal puts sustainable polymers at the center of Materials Science.

Library Technology Guides
Sep 21st, 2026
Springer Nature announces new transformative agreement with University of Texas System.

Springer Nature announces new transformative agreement with University of Texas System. New York, NY - 17 September 2026. Springer Nature has signed a transformative agreement with the University of Texas System, expanding opportunities for researchers to publish their work open access while ensuring access to Springer Nature content. The agreement qualifies University of Texas System researchers to publish open access, articles that are accepted in the Springer Nature hybrid portfolio, helping their findings be discovered and built upon by the global research community. The deal deepens a 20-year relationship with the University of Texas System. The four-year agreement supports both read access to subscription content and open access publishing, and includes titles across Springer, Palgrave, and Adis brands. The agreement is expected to enable the open publication of nearly 900 articles per year. By removing the barrier of cost to eligible researchers, University of Texas-affiliated researchers will be able to increase the reach and vsibility of their work[1], advancing scientific discovery. Maria Lopes, Vice President, Institutional Sales for Springer Nature, said: "This agreement reflects the strong partnership between Springer Nature and the University of Texas, one founded on a commitment to publishing high-quality research. By making open access publishing easier and more accessible, researchers at the University of Texas will be able to share their findings and contribute to the scholarly discourse of their disciplines." Alexia Thompson-Young, Assistant Director of Scholarly Resources, University of Texas, stated: "We are pleased to partner with Springer Nature to give University of Texas researchers a greater opportunity to publish their work openly and increase the visibility of the research produced at our UT institutions. This agreement helps to ensure that the discoveries made by our researchers have a global impact." [1] When publishing gold OA, authors across all disciplines see almost seven times more downloads per research article than non-OA articles and 50% more citations on average than non-OA articles. Springer Nature. (2026). From access to impact: How open access shapes research reach, citations, and global visibility. About Springer Nature. Springer Nature is one of the leading publishers of research in the world. Library Technology publish the largest number of journals and books and are a pioneer in open research. Through its leading brands, trusted for more than 180 years, Library Technology provide technology-enabled products, platforms and services that help researchers to uncover new ideas and share their discoveries, health professionals to stay at the forefront of medical science, and educators to advance learning. Library Technology is proud to be a progress, working together with the communities Library Technology serve to share knowledge and bring greater understanding to the world. For more information, please visit about.springernature.com and follow Springer Nature. | Summary: | Springer Nature has signed a transformative agreement with the University of Texas System, expanding opportunities for researchers to publish their work open access while ensuring access to Springer Nature content. The agreement qualifies University of Texas System researchers to publish open access, articles that are accepted in the Springer Nature hybrid portfolio, helping their findings be discovered and built upon by the global research community. | | Publication Year: | 2026 | | Type of Material: | Press Release | | Language | English | | Date Issued: | September 22, 2026 | | Publisher: | Springer Nature | | Company: | Springer Nature | | Permalink: | https://librarytechnology.org/pr/32946/springer-nature-announces-new-transformative-agreement-with-university-of-texas-system | DocumentID: 32946 views: 154 Created: 2026-09-21 10:30:41 Last Modified: 2026-09-21 21:41:46.

ET Edge Insights
Sep 20th, 2026
India's AI boom confronts its missing institutions.

India's AI boom confronts its missing institutions. * PublishedSeptember 20, 2026 India's artificial intelligence ambitions have run into a hard question, not whether the country can build the technology, but who is answerable when it fails. At the inaugural Science on the Raisina - The Sakshya Dialogue 2026, convened by Springer Nature under the theme "From Guidelines to Institutions: Building India's Trusted AI Ecosystem," policymakers, scientists, technologists and industry leaders arrived at a blunt consensus: India does not have a shortage of AI guidelines. It has a shortage of institutions to enforce them. "Technology cannot be held accountable. People and institutions can." This formed the foundation of the discussion and captured its central argument - a sharp distinction between building AI responsibly and being responsible for AI. The two are not the same, participants said, and India's policy conversation has so far focused overwhelmingly on the former. Participants pushed back on the notion that AI's trust problem is a matter of public perception. It is structural, they argued. Trust is a downstream effect of accountability, and accountability requires knowing precisely who trained a model, on what data, and who is on the hook when it fails. The example offered was a familiar one: a doctor using an AI diagnostic tool has no reliable way of knowing whether it was trained on peer-reviewed medical literature or scraped social media commentary. In most cases today, that information simply isn't available. A recurring theme was the absence of independent evaluation. Academics who build AI models should not be the ones benchmarking them, participants said, and companies claiming state-of-the-art performance across dozens of Indian languages should not have the final word on whether those claims hold up. What's missing, the Dialogue concluded, isn't another guideline, it's an independent, conflict-free benchmarking body, potentially anchored in India's own AI Safety Institute. This was described not as a gap in policy documents but as a genuinely missing institution. Participants were clear they did not want a single, omnibus AI law racing to keep pace with a fast-moving technology. Legislation, they argued, inevitably moves slower than the technology it seeks to govern, and heavy-handed overreach risks stalling the innovation India is trying to build. The consensus instead favoured a federated, sectoral, risk-graded approach, AI used in healthcare warrants a fundamentally different level of scrutiny than AI recommending a film. This was framed explicitly as calibration, not deregulation. The more immediate priority, participants said, is not fresh guidance telling developers what to aspire for, but testing frameworks robust enough for government to deploy AI models at scale with actual confidence. A distinctly India-specific problem also emerged: the country doesn't lack good AI pilots, it lacks the institutions to scale them responsibly. Successful, localised projects, including an agricultural advisory tool for farmers and a maternal health risk predictor, have proven themselves in one state and then stalled for want of a sectoral data layer, a model registry, or a trusted mechanism to certify that a model safe in one state is safe to deploy in another. Bhashini, India's multilingual AI translation platform, was repeatedly cited as the model of what the country already has and can build on. Spanning India's 22 scheduled languages and their many dialects, it now handles 22 million inferences a day, supporting everything from digitising panchayat meeting minutes to delivering real-time agricultural advice to farmers in their own language. Its real lesson, participants said, is institutional rather than purely technological. Bhashini democratised data collection by partnering with more than 70 research institutions to gather and vet language data that no single Delhi-based team could have collected alone. It also embraced iteration over perfection - building, learning, failing fast and rebuilding - rather than waiting for a flawless first version. That combination of broad institutional participation and tolerance for early error was held up as a potential foundation for a trusted, federated AI ecosystem more broadly. Beneath the institutional debate sat an uncomfortable fact: India continues to underfund foundational AI research, and industry too often treats R&D spending as a cost centre rather than a long-term investment. Participants noted candidly that no Indian company has yet made significant money from AI, a fact that only strengthens the case for evaluation frameworks that account for the true cost of building and deploying a model, rather than relying solely on headline accuracy. Proposed fixes were practical rather than sweeping: CSR-funded research grants, secondment programmes rotating industry talent through public institutions, and stronger academic publishing standards to close the funding and talent gap. Geopolitics loomed large over the Dialogue. With AI increasingly framed as a contest between the United States and China, several participants argued India has a genuine opening to offer a third way, one rooted in its credibility on digital public infrastructure (DPI) and its standing with the Global South. But the room was candid about the gap between admiration and adoption: goodwill toward India's DPI experience has not yet translated into Global South countries choosing Indian AI models over Chinese ones. There was also no single agreed definition of "sovereign AI", with its importance potentially varying between a compute provider and an ordinary enterprise. What was broadly agreed, however, was the direction of travel: manage dependencies and choose partners deliberately in the near term, while keeping sovereign capability the long-term goal. Nobody at the Dialogue called for India to ease off its AI ambitions. The call, instead, was to build what's missing, registries, independent benchmarking bodies, sectoral regulators and funding incentives, the institutional scaffolding needed to convert ambition into infrastructure the country, and the world, can actually trust. India has the talent. It has the data scale, and through Bhashini, it already has a working proof of concept for responsible, democratised AI infrastructure. What it does not yet have is the institutional architecture to match, and turning principles into practice, the Dialogue made clear, is the work that starts now. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author/authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ET Edge Insights, its management, or its members.

IR Impact
Sep 17th, 2026
People moves: Simon Gleadhill joins Reckitt as Johnson Controls appoints Eric Swanson.

People moves: Simon Gleadhill joins Reckitt as Johnson Controls appoints Eric Swanson. September 17, 2026 Plus new IROs at MasTec, Galaxy Digital and many more. Johnson Controls has appointed former Sherwin-Williams IR chief Eric Swanson as its new vice president of investor relations. The NYSE-listed company, which makes fire, HVAC and security equipment for buildings, says Swanson will bring 'more than two decades of investor relations, corporate finance, equity research and investment banking' to the role. He most recently served as vice president of investor relations at Sherwin-Williams, where he led investor relations strategy and engagement. Prior to that, he held investor relations and finance leadership roles at Avient Corporation and worked in equity research and investment banking at KeyBanc Capital Markets. 'I am honored to join Johnson Controls and excited by the opportunity ahead,' says Swanson. 'Earning the trust and confidence of investors starts with a clear, consistent story grounded in results.' Marc Vandiepenbeeck, Johnson Controls' executive vice president and CFO, adds: 'Eric's deep investor relations and capital markets experience, combined with his track record of building trust with the financial community, make him the right leader to help IR Impact tell that story. His work will be instrumental in communicating how its strategy, differentiated capabilities and proprietary Johnson Controls Business System come together to drive stronger execution and deliver on its growth algorithm.' Fellow NYSE-listed company MasTec has also brought in a new vice president of investor relations in the form of Ati Modak. Modak joins the infrastructure engineering and construction firm from Goldman Sachs, where he served as vice president, equity research covering the energy services sector. Prior to that, he held a similar role at Citi. Paul DiMarco, MasTec's executive vice president and CFO, says: 'Having spent years covering our industry, Ati has developed a strong understanding of the key drivers investors need to evaluate and underwrite an investment thesis. I look forward to working closely with Ati as we continue to enhance our engagement with investors and grow shareholder value.' Staying in the US, Galaxy Digital has appointed Taylor Reinhardt as its new head of investor relations, succeeding former IR chief Jonathan Goldowsky, who has transitioned to co-head of Europe at the company. She joins after serving as head of investor relations, marketing and communications at Perella Weinberg, joining in 2021 in conjunction with the firm's public listing on Nasdaq. Before that, she spent six years in investor relations and corporate communications at Apollo Global Management and began her career at Teneo Holdings. Reinhardt says: 'Galaxy is at such an exciting and pivotal moment in its trajectory and I'm thrilled to be joining the company as it continues to build across digital assets and AI infrastructure. The breadth of the business, the pace of innovation and the opportunity ahead make this an incredibly compelling story. I look forward to working with [CFO] Tony [Paquette] and the broader team to engage with the investment community as Galaxy continues to execute on its ambitious vision.' Over in Vancouver, British Columbia, Andina Copper has announced the appointment of Shae Frosst as its new vice president, investor relations. With more than 12 years of experience in the mining sector, Frosst previously held senior investor relations roles at New Found Gold, Centerra Gold and Denison Mines. Joseph van den Elsen, Andina Copper's president and CEO, says: 'This new role will allow IR Impact to expand its investor engagement strategy in support of Andina's rapidly evolving story and the numerous corporate and project-level catalysts on the horizon.' In Vienna, Austria, sustainable building firm Wienerberger has brought in Claus Ehrenbeck to take over as senior vice president of investor relations, succeeding Therese Jander. Ehrenbeck began his career as an equity analyst at HypoVereinsbank in Munich before joining the DVFA, where he was responsible for investor relations support. He then held various IR roles at AIXTRON, HOCHTIEF and thyssenkrupp, where he served for nearly 20 years. Several more IR people moves were shared on LinkedIn this week: Felipe Bianchi has joined Springer Nature as senior manager, investor relations; Lindsey Allen has started a new role as senior vice president, investor relations and communications at Amylyx Pharmaceuticals; Atakan Savas has joined ISVEA as its investor relations manager; and Kirsten O'Reilly has been promoted to head of investor relations at Whitbread. Finally, regular IR Impact awards judge Simon Gleadhill has taken on a new role as lead annual report consultant at Reckitt. He joins after a decade as head of corporate, ESG and IFRS reporting at Howdens (formerly Howden Joinery Group), where he led production of the company's annual and sustainability reports, winning a slew of awards in the process. Gleadhill is a current member of the UK Financial Reporting Council Advisory Panel and served on the government's Department for Business and Trade's Corporate Disclosures External Stakeholder Group. He has been one of the judges for the IR Impact Awards - Europe since 2024.

Press Trust of India
Sep 14th, 2026
IEM-HEALS 2026: where global health innovation meets technology, ideas and impact.

IEM-HEALS 2026: where global health innovation meets technology, ideas and impact. Monday, Sep 14, 2026 18:00:33 | IEM-HEALS 2026 Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], September 14: Kolkata is set to become a meeting ground for global health science and technology as the Institute of Engineering & Management (IEM) hosts IEM-HEALS 2026 - International Conference on Advancing Science and Technologies in Health Science from September 11 to 13 at the CII Auditorium, IEM Management House, Kolkata. The three-day international conference is bringing together health science, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, medical technology, research, innovation and entrepreneurship on a common platform, with eminent scientists, academicians, clinicians, researchers, innovators and young minds from India and across the world participating in the event. Organised by the Department of Basic Science & Humanities, Institute of Engineering & Management, the conference is being held in collaboration with Smart Society USA, Canada, Springer Nature, Institution's Innovation Council and Rotary Club of Salt Lake Silicon Valley. The initiative places strong emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration, with the objective of creating an ecosystem where cutting-edge research can move beyond laboratories and translate into meaningful technological solutions for healthcare and society. Adding an innovative touch to the delegate experience, participants were onboarded through an innovative passport and boarding pass system, carrying details of the conference programme and schedule. The inaugural and valedictory sessions will feature senior leadership from the IEM-UEM group, including Prof. Dr. Nabarun Bhattacharya, Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of Engineering and Management Kolkata (UEM); Prof. Dr. Arun Kr. Bar, Principal, IEM; Prof. Dr. Anupam Bhattacharya, Principal (Management); Prof. Dr. Malay Gangopadhaya, Dean Academics and Vice Principal, among other senior officials from the IEM-UEM group. A key attraction of IEM-HEALS 2026 is its focus on technology-driven healthcare innovation, with two major hackathon initiatives in Health Science and Technologies, including Hack 2 Heal 2.0 - the Global Hackathon. With participants from more than 42 countries, including the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and Singapore, Hack 2 Heal 2.0 is positioning Kolkata as a global meeting ground for healthcare innovation. Students, researchers, technology enthusiasts and innovators will work together to identify pressing healthcare challenges and develop technology-enabled solutions with potential real-world impact. The conference also has an extensive academic and research programme, featuring paper presentations, technical poster exhibitions and innovative project exhibitions. Researchers and scholars will present their latest findings through oral and poster presentation sessions. The technical poster exhibition will offer a visual platform for participants to communicate research ideas, methodologies and discoveries, while the Innovative Project Exhibition will put the spotlight on technology and creativity through projects and prototypes addressing contemporary challenges in health science and technology. Another major component of the programme is the specialised workshop "Genome to Code: Exploring Avenues of Bioinformatics." The technical programme has also been divided into three major tracks: Artificial Intelligence, Clinical Decision Support and Health Informatics; Medical Imaging, Computer Vision and Biomedical Signal & Data Analytics; and Computational Genomics, Bioinformatics, Systems Medicine and Mathematical Biology. Selected papers are scheduled for publication in Springer Nature ACSAR (Advances in Computer Science Applications and Research) conference proceedings, adding an academic dimension to the international event. The conference has also brought together an impressive line-up of national and international speakers. The speaker panel includes Prof. Mojgan Rezvani, Canada; Prof. Nikolay Dokholyan, USA; Prof. David A. Hood, Canada; Prof. Matthew Chua, Singapore; Prof. Shoji Yokobori, Japan; Dr. Somnath Dutta, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru; Dr. Nirmalya Sen, Bose Institute; Dr. Debjani Dutta, NIT Durgapur; and Dr. Jayasri Das Sarma, Professor, IISER Kolkata, among others. A special highlight of IEM-HEALS 2026 is the Global Excellence Award, instituted to recognise distinguished contributions to health science and allied areas. The awardees include Dr. Saroj Mandal, Padma Shri Awardee (2026) - Medicine, for "Distinguished Contribution to Cardiovascular Medicine and Patient Care"; Dr. Jayasri Das Sarma, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, IISER, for "Pioneering Contributions to Neurovirology and Neuroimmunology"; Dr. Abhijit Chowdhury, Provost and Professor, Indian Institute of Liver and Digestive Sciences, for "Pioneering Contributions in Translational Medicine"; Dr. Santasabuj Das, Scientist G & Director, NICED, for "Outstanding Contributions to Infectious Disease Research"; and Dr. Dhriti Banerjee, Director, Zoological Survey of India, for "Outstanding Contributions to Zoological Research, Biodiversity & Conservation." Prof. Shoji Yokobori, Professor, Director and Chair, Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Japan, will also be recognised for his outstanding contribution to "Advancing scientific knowledge through pioneering research in neurocritical care, neurotrauma, and innovative therapeutic approaches". Speaking about the vision behind the conference, Prof. Dr. Satyajit Chakrabarti, Vice Chancellor, Institute of Engineering & Management and University of Engineering & Management, Kolkata, said, "IEM-HEALS 2026 reflects our commitment to creating a global platform where scientific excellence, technological innovation and human-centred healthcare come together. Through this initiative, we aim to inspire young minds to transform ideas and research into solutions that can create a meaningful impact on society." Prof. Dr. Prabir Kumar Das, Convener, IEM-HEALS 2026; Professor and Head, Department of Basic Science & Humanities, IEM, said, "IEM-HEALS brings together multiple disciplines on a common platform. The paper presentations, technical poster exhibition, innovative projects and global hackathon will encourage meaningful interaction between researchers, students, healthcare professionals and technologists, fostering collaboration and new ideas." Prof. Dr. Debasmita Bhattacharya, Convener, IEM-HEALS 2026; Professor, Department of Basic Science & Humanities, IEM, added, "Our objective is to create an environment where innovation is not restricted to laboratories or classrooms. Through Hack 2 Heal 2.0, HEALIX, project exhibitions and research presentations, we want participants to think boldly, collaborate globally and develop solutions that address real healthcare needs." With participation from across the globe, high-impact research, paper presentations, technical poster and innovative project exhibitions, two healthcare hackathons, distinguished international speakers and recognition of scientific excellence, IEM-HEALS 2026 is emerging as a major platform for the convergence of health science and technology. The conference seeks not only to bring global health innovation to Kolkata but also to provide a platform for Indian researchers, students, and innovators to take their ideas and solutions to the world. (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PNN. PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.)