Meet our Team – Ayodeji Adeniran

Meet one of our newest employees, Ayodeji Adeniran. Coming to us from the University of Reading as a Research and Enterprise Contracts Officer, Ayodeji is now BBMRI-ERIC’s Legal Officer, working on the CORBEL and EOSC-Life projects. 

Welcome to the team, Ayodeji! You’ve only just started, but what does a typical day look like for you so far? What kinds of issues do you deal with in your job?

Being a Legal Officer, there are no typical days, and I believe this is what I love most about it. Every single day there’s  something different and unique. It could be a different task, a different type of contract or a different issue. So, I typically start my day by going through all my emails checking if there are urgent matters pending, prepping for meetings and I am usually talking to people all through the day. As the day progresses, I typically get busier with lots of documents to work through.

Often times, I need a quiet space when I am doing a draft or reviewing agreements. This is just an example of a typical day but it is pretty crazy and different every single day, which makes it fun and worth it.

Where has BBMRI-ERIC taken you?

So far I haven’t needed to travel much, but I recently attended a workshop in Paris which I found interesting and insightful. It was great meeting new faces that I had previously known only through emails and teleconference calls. The opportunity allowed me to gain a deeper understanding about the project and the collaborators in general.

What is the most interesting aspect of your job?

It might prove a herculean task to pick out the most interesting bits of this job. However, I would like to say delving into a bit of research into a subject matter that I am working on. Every new discovery and fact has helped to build on my understanding of the job. Being a detail-oriented person, I tend to always want to do my due diligence before giving out legal advice or opinions.

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Well what I certainly would like to do less of would be working with databases, systemic inputs or data entry into any sort of system. I find it awfully distracting, time-consuming and repetitive by nature. I am one of those people that believes that automating actions help to make processes simpler and more efficient. However, I do appreciate the importance of doing them. It may not be my favourite aspect of the job but I certainly appreciate it.

What do you love the most about working at BBMRI-ERIC?

My first impression from the moment I walked through the doors at BBMRI-ERIC was one of positivity and confidence. Meeting staff who exuded a positive attitude about the organization really stuck with me. This was perhaps an organizational culture that I had come to embrace as time went on. Most colleagues are always willing to help, which has also helped in building my confidence to take on new challenges. This has reinforced my motivation to exceed my own abilities and move beyond my comfort zone.

What kind of work did you do before joining?

I had worked in the Higher Education sector; and previously in a role that was more a face-to-face model. My internal clients were the academics that I was constantly engaging with in order to ensure their understanding and compliance with the Organization’s Research Contracts Framework; and especially as it pertained to agreements entered into with external bodies which included other collaborating institutions, sponsors, governmental bodies and the European Union to provide funding for research purposes.

We look forward to working more with Ayodeji in the future!

Learn more about working for BBMRI-ERIC here.