The Department for Transport has appointed Professor Patricia Thornley as its new Chief Scientific Adviser, bringing three decades of expertise in sustainable energy, clean transport and low-carbon innovation.
Professor Thornley, a leading figure in the UK’s sustainability research community, is currently Director of the Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute at Aston University. She will join DfT early next year, succeeding Professor Sarah Sharples, who served in the role for four years before taking up a senior academic post at the University of Manchester.
Her career spans bioenergy, clean transport and negative emissions technologies, and she has led major national research initiatives including the Supergen Bioenergy Hub and the Clean Maritime Policy Unit. She also plays an influential role in government science advice, serving as Deputy Chair of DfT’s Scientific Advisory Council and as a member of the Science Advisory Council for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Similar to her predecessor, Professor Thornley is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and previously held a professorship in Sustainable Energy Systems at the University of Manchester.
Jo Shanmugalingam, Permanent Secretary at DfT, said:
“Science, innovation and technology are at the heart of how we’re modernising transport for today’s world.
I’m thrilled to welcome Patricia as our new Chief Scientific Adviser. Her experience in research and innovation will be invaluable as we continue to strengthen our science capability.”
Professor Patricia Thornley said:
“Transport touches on the lives of practically everyone and so it is a huge honour and privilege to be appointed as Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department for Transport.
The responsibility for providing scientific evidence to inform government decision-making in transport will build on my sustainable engineering background, but the UK academic community has vast breadth and depth of expertise applicable to transport and so positively drawing on that will be vital.
Aston University thrives on applying engineering understanding for societal impact and benefit and I look forward to continuing to do just that as Chief Scientific Adviser at DfT.”
Professor Dame Angela McLean, Government Chief Scientific Adviser, said:
“Congratulations to Professor Patricia Thornley on being appointed as the Department for Transport’s new Chief Scientific Adviser. An experienced researcher, she will bring great insight into sustainability to the chief scientist network. I look forward to working with her.”
