Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser DBE FRS is the Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge. She is currently on secondment to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as its Chief Executive. Prior to this she was Director of the Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, an interdisciplinary research institute combining computational modelling with molecular genetics and cell biology to elucidate the dynamical systems underpinning the control of plant growth and development.
Ottoline has a long-term interest in research culture and its effects on the quality and effectiveness of the research system. She chaired the Nuffield Council on Bioethics project examining these issues and has been actively engaged in work aimed at generating a more inclusive, creative and connected research culture. She has worked extensively in science policy, chairing the Royal Society’s Science Policy Expert Advisory Group (2014-2020), and serving on the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology since 2017.
She is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Member of the Leopoldina and EMBO, an International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences, and an Honorary Fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences. She was awarded the Royal Society’s Croonian Medal and Lecture 2023, and appointed DBE for services to plant science, science in society and equality and diversity in science in 2017.