Laura Crawford

Laura is a Research Software Engineer specialising in digital research infrastructure, with a focus on identity-aware access automation and the integration of research administration systems with operational computing environments.

Her work centres on aligning project lifecycle management with secure access to compute, storage and data services. She is Principal Investigator on the UKRI-funded project “Bridging the Gap: Aligning Project Administration with Access to Digital Research Infrastructure”, which examines how systems such as project management platforms, federated identity and infrastructure provisioning tools can be more coherently connected in practice.

Laura works closely with infrastructure engineering, research governance, and project administration teams to explore what can realistically be automated, where integration breaks down, and how existing open-source tools can be extended to better support research workflows. Her technical interests include identity and access management, research data platforms, FAIR-aligned metadata processes, and the operational challenges of implementing automation in active research environments.

In addition to her technical role, Laura is Co-Chair of the Institute’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and leads its Policy and Practice group. She is active in the UK Research Software Engineering community, particularly in discussions around inclusive infrastructure design and accessible technical events.

Laura studied Ecology at the University of Exeter and completed a Master’s in Computational Methods for Ecology and Evolution at Imperial College London. She later completed an MPhil in dispersal modelling at the University of Reading, focusing on computational modelling of ecological systems.