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Walport to stay on at UKRI to oversee Covid-19 response

Images (l-r): BIS Digital Image Library [CC BY 2.0] and Thor Nielsen/NTNU [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Decision comes at new CEO’s request and will ‘maintain momentum at critical time’, says funder

The outgoing chief executive of UK Research and Innovation is to stay on at the national funding agency for a “transitional period” to help provide support during the coronavirus crisis, Research Professional News has learned.

Mark Walport (pictured left) will officially leave his role at the end of June, when he is due to be replaced by Ottoline Leyser (pictured right), a professor of plant development and director of the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge.

However, Research Professional News can exclusively reveal that Walport—who has been at the helm of the research councils since 2017 before overseeing the creation of UKRI in 2018—will stay on to guide the organisation’s response to the pandemic.

“As part of the handover process for UKRI’s new chief executive Dame Ottoline Leyser and at her request, Mark will continue to provide oversight of UKRI’s Covid-19 work for a transitional period and represent the organisation in key Covid-19 cross-government initiatives after his appointment as chief executive ends on June 28,” a spokesman said.

“This will provide continuity and maintain momentum at this crucial time.”

According to the funder, Walport has “played an integral role in a number of cross-government projects and groups tackling the Covid-19 pandemic”.

This includes his work as a contributing member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, which has helped guide the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

UKRI did not give an end date for Walport’s new role but Research Professional News understands it is not open ended.