Sarah Sharples

Sarah Catherine Sharples FREng FIET (born 1972)^[1] is a British chartered ergonomist and academic specialising in human factors and ergonomics.^[3][4][5] She has served as Professor of Human Factors at the University of Nottingham since 2012 and chief scientific adviser for the Department for Transport since 2021. As of 2025^[update] she has spent all her academic career at the University of Nottingham, and served as pro-vice-chancellor for equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) from 2018 to 2021.^[6][7][1][8] In June 2025, it was announced that she would be joining the University of Manchester in September 2025 as vice-president and dean of its Faculty of Science and Engineering.^[9]

Sarah Sharples FREng FIET
Born	Sarah Catherine Nichols (1972-11-01) 1 November 1972 (age 52)[1] Kingston upon Thames
Education	Wimbledon High School
Alma mater	University of Nottingham (BSc, MSc, PhD)
Scientific career
Fields	Psychology Virtual Reality[2]
Institutions	University of Nottingham Department for Transport University of Manchester
Thesis	Virtual Reality Induced Symptoms and Effects (VRISE): methodological and the theoretical issues (1999)
Website	www.nottingham.ac.uk/engineering/people/sarah.sharples

Education

Sharples was educated at Wimbledon High School, an all-girls private school in London.^[1] She studied psychology, human factors, and engineering at the University of Nottingham (BSc, MSc, PhD).^[1] Her doctoral thesis investigated Virtual Reality Induced Symptoms and Effects (VRISE).^[10]

Career and research

In 2024 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng)^[11] In 2025 she was appointed Vice President and Dean at the University of Manchester.^[12]