Chief Scientific Advisers: Mathematics

(asked on 1st November 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many of the Government’s Chief Scientists have a mathematical background; and if will provide information on the academic backgrounds of the Government’s Chief Scientists.


Answered by
Paul Scully Portrait
Paul Scully
This question was answered on 9th November 2021

Most government departments have a Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) to provide scientific advice. A CSA is typically a distinguished scientist or engineer, recruited externally from academia or industry. Of the current cohort of CSAs, two have a purely mathematical background (FCDO CSA & MOD CSA).

However, all CSAs bring deep science and/or engineering knowledge and are able to work fluently across a range of sciences including mathematics.

All current departmental CSAs have their academic background published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/chief-scientific-advisers.

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