The UK government is starting the hunt for a new chief executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) after Dame Ottoline Leyser confirmed she would not seek a second term in office.
In a blog on the long-term future of UKRI, Dame Ottoline sets out her vision for the organisation she has led since June 2020, stating “this coming year marks a particularly crucial time in the evolution of UKRI” because it is “in the midst of a huge change programme”.
Outlining her desire for UKRI to help the government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to implement its Science and Technology Framework and therefore “embed research and innovation so deeply across government that it informs every decision made and every action taken”, Dame Ottoline explains that this is a “long-term project critical for the future of the UK” and “extends well beyond the objectives often cited for UKRI, and beyond my five-year term of office as CEO”.
Responding to the news that Dame Ottoline would not extend her time at the £8 billion-a-year research funder, which was created in 2018 as an umbrella body for the UK’s nine research councils, a DSIT spokesperson said it would “begin preparations to ensure that a world-class candidate is primed to take over this vital role, and we will be launching a full recruitment campaign soon”.
