"In June 2025, Dame Professor Ottoline Leyser stepped down as the CEO of URKI, or UK Research and Innovation, the non-departmental public body of the government that handles science and research funding in the UK. She's been in this position since 2020, and during her time there, she helped reshape the UK Research and Innovation landscape by streamlining funding processes and fostering a more joined up collaborative ecosystem."
"We had a wonderful conversation about careers and career paths and the work that she has been doing, not just as part of her role at the UKRI, but also throughout her career, focusing on bringing diversity to research career paths by bringing attention to the fact that career paths in research don't have to be the prescribed ones that you often hear about in academia, but that there are many, many ways to be a research scientist."
Dame Professor Ottoline Leyser served as CEO of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) from 2020 until stepping down in June 2025. She reshaped UKRI by streamlining funding processes and fostering a more joined-up collaborative ecosystem. She advanced initiatives including the Future Leaders Fellowships, place-based impact schemes and narrative CVs. She prepared to transition back into an academic role at the University of Cambridge in late 2024. She emphasized diversity in research career paths, asserting that careers need not follow prescribed academic trajectories and that many ways exist to be a research scientist. The International Science Council explores early and mid-career navigation in evolving scientific landscapes.
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