Prior to joining St Andrews, Professor Collett worked at several universities around the world, in teaching, research and senior management roles, including a period as Acting Dean at Nalanda University in India. Her research specialism is ancient Indian religions, with a focus on women. Her publications include Women in Early Indian Buddhism: Comparative Textual Studies (OUP, 2013) and Translating Buddhism: Historical and Contextual Perspectives (SUNY, 2021). Current projects include an outreach project that offers workshops to primary and secondary schools in and around Scotland on South Asian history, and a collaborative project with the School of Computer Science, working on digital tools for ancient inscriptions. Professor Collett also works with public bodies in consultancy, advisory and assessor roles, such as the BBC, The British Council, the Association for Commonwealth Universities and Sahapedia-UNESCO.