Alan Brown is a Professorial Fellow at the Institute for Employment Research (IER) at the University of Warwick. He joined IER in 1996 and since 2002 has also been a part-time Associate Director of the UK's national ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) with responsibility for workplace learning and professional development. His current research, which has a strong international orientation, focuses mainly upon changing occupational identities, qualifications development, continuing vocational training, skill formation, organisational performance, networks and supporting knowledge sharing and development and learning in professional communities of practice. He was involved in the development of the National Guidance Research Forum (NGRF), a knowledge-sharing site that has considerable material on research and practice in careers guidance and research on lifelong learning and work-related learning.