To conduct scientific research in the area of seed biology and biochemistry in support of the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership and Kew’s Corporate Plan; To produce high-quality scientific outputs and provide leadership in the area of seed biochemistry internationally.

Main research interests:
Plant stress physiology: free radicals, antioxidants and redox signalling; Survival strategies of plants in extreme environments; Biochemical mechanisms, development and evolution of desiccation tolerance and sensitivity; Programmed cell death; Non-invasive techniques, e.g., headspace GC-MS and infrared thermography; Lipid peroxidation, (seed) fats and fatty acids, and lipid peroxidation by-products including volatile hydrocarbons; Biochemical markers of seed quality; Chemical traits of seeds, including nutritional values (carbohydrates, proteins, fats).

Successful grant applications:
Total funding (since 1991): ~£1m .

Recent and current grants (>2006) include:
• Leverhulme Trust (UK) grant F/00731C ‘Reactive oxygen species and seed quality’ (2005-2009); PI: IK, co-investigators Prof. Richard Beckett and Dr. Farida Minibayeva; £ 98k.
• Joint British Council and French Embassy / German Academic Exchange Service grants: Alliance / ARC; PI: IK in collaboration with Prof. Christophe Bailly and PD Dr. Gerhard Leubner-Metzger, respectively, ‘Reactive oxygen species in seed ageing and in the alleviation of dormancy in the dry state’ (2007 – 2009); £~12k.
• COST Action FA0901 ‘Putting halophytes to work – from genes to ecosystems’ (2009 – 2013; management committee member; Chair: Prof. Timothy Flowers), € 400k, 2009-2013.
• Kew-INPA collaboration ’Morpho-physiological aspects of tree seeds from the Amazon and their implications on seed storage’ (2009-2013; PI: Dr Isolde Ferraz, INPA, Manaus, Brazil); £165k.

Supervision:
Supervisor and co-supervisor of PhD students (7 completed, 1 ongoing), MSc students (3 completed), external examiner of PhD and MSc theses (6).

Scientific interests and publishing:
• Published >50 original papers and book chapters in co-authorship with 23 institutions in 13 countries; cumulative citation of ~700; h-index=15; cumulative impact factor=135 (17 of which between 2006-2011 with a cumulative impact factor of 84).
• 12 invited / keynote / plenary lectures at international conferences.
• 20 invited lectures and seminar talks at universities, research institutes and industry (Austria, Germany, India, Nepal, South Africa, Switzerland, UK).
• ~60 oral and poster presentations at international conferences.
• Edited 1 book, currently co-authoring another book.

Science advice:
• Chair of the Departmental Science and Technology Group (SCD, Kew), 2005-2010.
• Managing editor for Plant Growth and Regulation.
• Editorial board member of Bentham’s The Open Plant Science Journal.
• Regular reviewer for scientific journals (>200 reviews for >30 journals).
• Regular grant reviewer (e.g., NRF > £250k; BSF > $500k; BARD ~$100k; OKTA ~28m HUF; BBSRC ~£635k).