Government Chief Scientific Adviser (United Kingdom)

Not to be confused with Chief Scientific Officer.

The UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) is the personal adviser on science and technology-related activities and policies to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; and head of the Government Office for Science.

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 advisor also usually serves as chair of the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

List of Government Chief Scientific Advisers

• Sir Solly Zuckerman, 1964–1971
• Sir Alan Cottrell, 1971–1974
• Dr Robert Press, 1974–1976
• Sir John Ashworth, 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, 2013–2017
• Prof Chris Whitty, (interim) 2017–2018
• Sir Patrick Vallance, 2018–

See also

• Chief Medical Officer in the United Kingdom
• Chief Scientific Officer for England
• MoD Chief Scientific Adviser
• Government Office for Science
• Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell
• Chief Science Advisor in Canada

External links

• Official website
• Website at Department for Business, Innovation and Skills at the Wayback Machine (archived 2014-03-01)
• The Role of the Chief Scientific Adviser at the Wayback Machine (archived 2007-10-13) – A discussion at the Royal Society, 2001.