The UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) is the personal adviser on science and technology-related activities and policies to the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
and the
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
; and head of the
Government Office for Science
The Government Office for Science is an science advisory group that is part of the British government. The organisation advises the UK Government on policy and decision-making based on science and long-term thinking. It is led by the Government C ...
.
The Chief Scientific Adviser has a significant public role as the government's most visible scientific expert. They are also head of the Science and Engineering Profession in government.
Most individual government departments have their own departmental Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA). The GCSA has no formal management responsibility for departmental CSAs and is free to provide advice to all departments, including those that have their own chief scientific adviser. The adviser also usually serves as chair of the UK's
Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) is a British Government body that advises central government in emergencies. It is usually chaired by the United Kingdom's Chief Scientific Adviser, currently Sir Patrick Vallance. Speciali ...
(SAGE).
List of Government Chief Scientific Advisers
* Sir
Solly Zuckerman
Solomon "Solly" Zuckerman, Baron Zuckerman (30 May 1904 – 1 April 1993) was a British public servant, zoologist and operational research pioneer. He is best remembered as a scientific advisor to the Allies on bombing strategy in the Second Wo ...
, 1964–1971
* Sir
Alan Cottrell
Sir Alan Howard Cottrell, FRS (17 July 1919 – 15 February 2012) was an English metallurgist and physicist. He was also former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government and vice-chancellor of Cambridge University 1977–1979.
Early ...
, 1971–1974
*
Robert Press Robert Press, CB, CBE, FRSA (22 February 1915 - 30 August 1984) was a British scientist and government adviser. Educated at Queen's University, Belfast, he was a research physicist at Trinity College, Dublin, from 1938 to 1940 (completing a PhD th ...
, 1974–1976
* Sir
John Ashworth John Ashworth may refer to:
* John Ashworth (cricketer) (1850–1901), English cricketer
* John Ashworth (footballer), English professional footballer
* John Ashworth (judge) (1906–1975), England judge and barrister
*John Ashworth (preacher) (181 ...
, 1977–1981
* Sir
Robin Nicholson, 1982–1985
* Sir
John Fairclough, 1986–1990
* Sir
William Stewart, 1990–1995
* Sir
Robert May, 1995–2000
* Sir
David King, 2000–2008
* Sir
John Beddington, 2008–2013
* Sir
Mark Walport
Sir Mark Jeremy Walport (born 25 January 1953) is an English medical scientist and was the Government Chief Scientific Adviser in the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2017 and Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) from 2017 to 2020.
...
, 2013–2017
* Sir
Chris Whitty
Sir Christopher John MacRae Whitty (born 21 April 1966) is a British epidemiologist serving as Chief Medical Officer for England (CMO) and Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government since 2019. He has also been Gresham Professor of Physic si ...
(interim), 2017–2018
* Sir
Patrick Vallance
Sir Patrick John Thompson Vallance (born 17 March 1960) is a British physician, scientist, and clinical pharmacologist who has worked in both academia and industry. He has served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of the United ...
, 2018–
See also
*
Chief Medical Officer in the United Kingdom
*
Chief Scientific Officer for England
*
MoD Chief Scientific Adviser The Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK's Ministry of Defence is responsible for providing strategic management of science and technology issues in the MOD, most directly through the MOD research budget of well over £1 billion, and sits as a full me ...
*
Government Office for Science
The Government Office for Science is an science advisory group that is part of the British government. The organisation advises the UK Government on policy and decision-making based on science and long-term thinking. It is led by the Government C ...
*
Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell
Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell, ( ; 5 April 18863 July 1957) was a British physicist who was prime scientific adviser to Winston Churchill in World War II.
Lindemann was a brilliant intellectual, who cut through bureauc ...
*
Chief Science Advisor in Canada
References
External links
*
*
* – A discussion at the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
, 2001.
1964 establishments in the United Kingdom
United K
Civil service positions in the United Kingdom
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Science and technology in the United Kingdom
{{UK-gov-stub