Thirty-two emerging leaders from across the UK have been selected as the newest members of the UK Young Academy, a network for early career researchers and professionals established to help tackle local and global issues and promote meaningful change. 

From policy to engineering, education, archaeology and the creative industries, the new cohort of members come from a wide range of sectors and have each made significant contributions to their field.  

The UK Young Academy will provide them with a forum to exchange ideas, share expertise and participate in local and global policy discussions with the aim of tackling challenges based on areas that matter to them. 

Speaking on behalf of the UK Young Academy executive group, Alistair McConnel, assistant professor in computer science at Heriot-Watt University, said: “We are delighted to welcome our new members to the UK Young Academy. It is such an exciting time to join the ranks. They will be able to help develop the young academy’s ambitions across areas they are passionate about, be it biodiversity loss, climate change or social inequality. 

“We have just kicked off planning our major projects for the year ahead, so the new members will be able to get their teeth stuck in from the get-go. I look forward to meeting them, being inspired by their diversity of ideas, and working alongside them to create positive change for the benefit of all.” 

Work programmes and initiatives led by members are already underway, with the aim to address the young academy’s strategic priorities set out in its first year. The first of the young academy’s major projects, to launch later this year, will be a programme to support researchers and professionals at risk, both in the UK and globally. 

The new members take up their posts from 19 March 2024, and membership runs for five years.  

Full list of members (in alphabetical order by surname): 

William Allen 
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow 
University of Oxford and Nuffield College 

Joseph Bentley 
Managing Director 
ACT Medical 

Sifeng Bi 
Lecturer (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) 
University of Strathclyde 

Precious Chatterje-Doody 
Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Studies 
The Open University 

Jennifer Clarke 
Operations Leader for the Chief Scientist Directorate 
NPL Management Limited 

Daniele Cotton 
Doctoral Research Fellow (Bioengineering) and Training Clinician (Oncology) 
University of Oxford 

Arthur Dudney 
Director of Cultural Programmes 
Arcadia 

Steven Egan 
Program Associate for Washington Ireland Program Academy and Forum programs 
Washington Ireland Program 

Sophie Frost 
Lecturer in Creative Leadership 
University of Creative Arts 

Nikita Hari 
Head of Teaching and Design Support Group, Department of Engineering 
University of Oxford 

Henry Ibitolu 
PhD Researcher (Future Cities Engineering) 
The University of Edinburgh/University of Glasgow 

Andrew Jupp 
Assistant Professor in Main-Group Chemistry 
University of Birmingham 

Hiba Khan 
Chief Revenue Officer 
Medics.Academy 

Antonia Liguori 
Professor of Participatory Storytelling and Public Policy 
Teesside University, School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Law  

Alexander Lloyd 
Research Fellow (in Clinical, Education and Health Psychology) 
University College London 

Emily Lowthian 
Lecturer in Education 
Swansea University 

Catherine Manning 
Lecturer in Psychology 
University of Reading 

Síle Molloy 
Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology 
St George’s, University of London 

Imrose Muhit 
Lecturer in Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering 
Teesside University 

Christoph Nehrbass-Ahles 
Senior Scientist 
National Physical Laboratory 

Eóin Parkinson 
Lecturer in Biological Archaeology 
University College Cork & Queen’s University Belfast 

Marloes Peeters 
Professor in Engineering Biology 
University of Manchester 

William Reynolds 
Senior Machine Learning Engineer 
PhysicsX 

Sandeep Sandhu 
Head of Stakeholder Relationships 
Innovate UK Business Connect 

Dhruti Shah 
Creative Lead 
Have You Thought About 

Timor Sharan 
Senior Research Associate 
Centre on Armed Groups 

Clare Siviter-Groschwald 
Associate Professor in French Theatre 
University of Bristol 

Priyanka Surana 
Senior Scientific Manager 
Wellcome Sanger Institute 

Rebecca Tapscott 
Lecturer (Politics Department)  

University of York 

Marc Tilley 
Humanitarian Affairs Adviser 
Freelance / Global Centre for Climate Mobility 

Rachel Tough 
Doctoral Researcher (School of Global Development)
University of East Anglia 

Kevin Woollard 
Senior Director 
AstraZeneca