Mark Walport was the government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, former head of the Wellcome Trust and was appointed to the post of Chief Executive of higher education’s £6bn research funding agency in February 2017. The appointment wasn’t the cause of much surprise, Walport has been a big hitter on the scene for many years. However it wasn’t without controversy: his notoriously charmless manner has alienated many through the years. And having partly instigated the Nurse review, which recommended the creation of UKRI, eyebrows were certainly raised about the cosiness of it all. But if anything, that was just another data point demonstrating his effectiveness as an operator.
UKRI, corralling the funding councils, Innovate UK and Research England will be responsible for both sides of the ‘dual funding’ streams, providing immense power for the organisation to shape the country’s research architecture and as his new organisation comes blinking in to the sunlight, Walport will need to immediately use all the influence at his disposal to ensure that UK research emerges from the Brexit ashes intact.