Dr Marilet Sienaert is the retired Executive Director: Research at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. In this role, she headed the Research Office, the Office of Research Integrity, the Postgraduate Studies and Researcher Development Directorate, and the Postgraduate Centre and Funding Office. Her remit included institutional strategic planning; sustainable and effective research management structures, systems and processes; research governance; policy development; building international partnerships, and researcher capacity development. Her career in research management spans 20 years. She continues to draw on this experience in her current capacity as a higher education consultant.

Prior to her shift into management, Dr Sienaert was a Professor in the Department of Modern Languages at the then University of Durban-Westville (now University of KwaZulu-Natal).