Area of work
Science, Innovation and AI
I work on policy related to metascience (the science of science), artificial intelligence (AI), AI for Science, life sciences, innovation, industrial strategy and the national security and geopolitical implications of these issues.
Current roles
- Fellow Centre for British Progress
- Executive Committee Member Labour Digital
- Visiting Researcher University of Leeds
Former roles
- Policy Adviser to the Shadow Minister for Science, Research and Innovation The Labour Party
- Science Policy Lead UK Day One
- Executive Committee Member Scientists for Labour
Highlights
How the British Public Can Win on AI
Concrete policy options to help Labour win the politics of AI, putting British workers before Silicon Valley. Aims to ensure AI benefits start in post-industrial towns rather than trickling down from the South East.
Read →Making the Most of Britain’s AI for Science Strategy
Proposes AI for Science missions on pathogen detection, environmental forecasting and metascience tools, alongside a recognition prize focused on null results.
Read →How Labour Could Boost UK Research
Invited to write about how metascience, new innovation policy tools, academic publishing reform, curiosity-driven research and research assessment reform could help deliver Labour’s goals for science and innovation.
Read →Policy reports
Proposes AI for Science missions on pathogen detection, environmental forecasting and metascience tools, alongside a recognition prize focused on null results.
Centre for British Progress 2025 R&D Policy ToolkitSupported the development of a toolkit synthesising the economic evidence and theory on advance market commitments, innovation prizes and regulatory sandboxes, to produce actionable recommendations for UK policymakers.
Centre for British Progress 2024 Replacing the Research Excellence FrameworkCo-authored with Dr Richard Carr of Anglia Ruskin University. Led to a series of articles and discussion in Research Fortnight and WonkHE, was included in Research Fortnight’s opinion highlights for 2024, and was mentioned in a Written Parliamentary Question by Dr Adam Thompson MP.
UK Day One 2024 Reform Academic Publishing to Unblock InnovationCo-authored with Dr Jonny Coates of ASAPbio, with a media engagement strategy that led to coverage in Research Fortnight and Times Higher Education. Mentioned in a Written Parliamentary Question by Dr Adam Thompson MP.
UK Day One 2024 Beyond Tax Credits: Pull Mechanisms to Crowd-in Private R&D InvestmentCo-authored with Arthur Baker of the University of Chicago Market Shaping Accelerator and Andrew Graves of the Innovation Caucus, recommending the use of novel innovation policy tools.
UK Day One 2024 Ageing Research to Tackle Long-Term SicknessCo-authored with Tina Woods, former Director to the Secretariat of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Longevity.
UK Day One 2024 Deepfakes, Elections and National Security PDFLed the writing of a paper on AI and misinformation, written on request from the team of the then Shadow DSIT Secretary, Peter Kyle, and fed into the opposition AI strategy. Endorsed by Daniel Aldridge MP, then at BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT. Covered in Politico, UK Tech News and Research Fortnight.
Scientists for Labour 2023 R&D for Economic Security from Future Pandemics PDFLed the writing of a report endorsed by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, the BioIndustry Association, the Confederation of British Industry and Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford, with coverage in Research Fortnight. Led to meetings with Darren Jones, Jonathan Reynolds, Hilary Benn, Chi Onwurah, Holly Lynch, Fabian Hamilton, Chris Evans, Rosena Allin-Khan and Paulette Hamilton.
Scientists for LabourWriting
Blogs and op-eds.
Fourteen options for an AI policy reset, from a What Works Centre for AI in Public Services to binding regulation on frontier developers.
White Heat 2025 AI Can Fix the Research Excellence FrameworkHow large language models could carry out output assessment at a fraction of the cost of peer panels, including where the approach does not work for non-article outputs.
White Heat 2025 Empirical Questions in MetascienceA live research agenda for funders and researchers, focused on economics, biology and biomedical science, with suggested study designs.
White Heat 2025 AI for Metascience: A Request for ProductsA request for products modelled on Y Combinator’s request for start-ups, setting out AI tools that would make research faster and more reliable, spanning evidence synthesis, replication and research integrity.
White Heat 2025 AI Evals for Productivity GrowthOn building evaluations that measure whether AI systems deliver real productivity gains, emphasising real-world evaluations. Liked by AI expert Arvind Narayanan.
White Heat 2025 Advance Regulation and Deregulation CommitmentsProposes new innovation policy tools using “regulatory pull” with no direct fiscal costs to government. Cited by Joe Hill and Cory Berman for the Re:State think tank in “The Law of Rule: Fixing how Britain regulates”.
White Heat 2025 How Labour could boost UK researchInvited to write about how metascience, new innovation policy tools, academic publishing reform, curiosity-driven research and research assessment reform could help deliver Labour’s goals for science and innovation.
Research Professional NewsCited in Parliament and the press
Dr Adam Thompson MP tabled a Written Parliamentary Question drawing on “Replacing the Research Excellence Framework”.
UK Parliament 2024 Written Parliamentary Question on academic publishingDr Adam Thompson MP tabled a Written Parliamentary Question drawing on “Reform Academic Publishing to Unblock Innovation”.
UK Parliament 2026 Use AI to boost world-leading research in REF, think tank urgesCoverage of the Centre for British Progress report on Britain’s AI for Science strategy.
Research Fortnight 2024 End UKRI funds for open access publishing, urges reportCoverage of “Reform Academic Publishing to Unblock Innovation”.
Times Higher Education 2024 Scrap REF and allocate funds based on external grants, says think tankCoverage of “Replacing the Research Excellence Framework”.
Times Higher Education 2024 Scrap REF to save £450 million, says think tankCoverage of “Replacing the Research Excellence Framework”.
Research FortnightEvents
Invited to a roundtable discussion at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology with the then Minister for AI, Feryal Clark, co-hosted by Daniel Aldridge MP.
DSIT 2024–2025 Science Policy Drinks, WestminsterEstablished and ran a monthly event to bring together people working on science policy, attended by Labour MPs including the current AI Minister, Kanishka Narayan.
Scientists for LabourTopics I work on
- Industrial strategy
- AI in public services
- Frontier AI regulation
- Metascience
- Research funding and assessment
- Academic publishing reform
- AI for Science
- Innovation policy and pull mechanisms
- Life sciences and ageing research
- AI, elections and national security