James Naismith has succeeded acting interim director Peter Lee to take the lead at the Research Complex at Harwell.
Naismith, a structural biologist, took over on 1 June, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council announced on 23 June.
Lee held the post of acting interim director from 1 March 2016 to 31 May 2017. He took over from Simon Phillips, a professor of molecular biophysics, who had been director since 2008.