Dr Peggy Gregory

As a practice-focused Senior Lecturer in Software Engineering, Peggy's research explores aspects of agility and software development practice in IT organisations. This is achieved through undertaking qualitative empirical case studies in industry to develop new knowledge, theory, and practical insights. She works with other members of the Agile Research Network (ARN) based at the Open University, and a wider network of international researchers with similar interests. She also works closely with the Agile Business Consortium, an industry body who partially fund ARN research. Current research themes are agile transformation, sustaining agility, agile working, and people in the agile workplace. By working with industry and professional bodies the ARN contribute to improving IT working practices and understanding the changing workplace. Peggy also investigates user-experiences of digital health technology in collaboration with colleagues from the School of Health, with current projects exploring parental loneliness and health social media influencers.
Peggy teaches across all levels in Computer Science. She teaches requirements engineering and agile practices to undergraduates. She is Year Tutor for MSc students and teaches IT Projects and Programmes at this level. She also supervises several doctoral students and a research associate. Please contact her if you are interested in doctoral-level research.

Peggy has taught at Foundation, Degree, Masters, and Doctoral level and has been Course Leader, Year Tutor and Programme Lead for taught MSc courses. She supervises both full-time and part-time PhD students in her fields of expertise and has examined numerous PhDs and Professional Doctorates. As a reflective educator she has numerous pedagogical research publications and has an interest in supporting doctoral students to develop their academic writing identity.
Peggy is a founder member of the Agile Research Network, a research collaboration set up in 2013 between colleagues at UCLan and The Open University. The group has employed numerous Research Associates and collaborates internationally with other academics and research groups working in the same field. The sustained programme of original empirical research undertaken by the group has contributed to a greater theoretical and practical understanding of the impact of agile methods in the IT industry. Outputs include journal papers, conference papers, white papers, pocketbooks, and blogs. More details of ARN work and publications are available on www.agileresearchnetwork.org
Peggy has over 70 publications, and regularly reviews for numerous journals and conferences including IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering and Information and Software Technology. She has successfully won research grants totalling over £900K. She is regularly involved in organising conferences, workshops, and practitioner events and was General Chair for the International Conference on Agile Software Development in 2021. She has been an external examiner and external adviser at several UK universities. At UCLan she is a member of the Athena Swan SET for Computer Science, the Faculty of Science & Technology EDI group, and was on the STEMH Ethics Panel for 5 years.