Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser

Ottoline Leyser is the Regius Professor of Botany at the Departmetn of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge.

Biography

Ottoline Leyser is the Regius Professor of Botany. Her research focuses on multiscale distributed regulatory systems in plant development, using the modulation of shoot branching by nitrate availability in Arabidopsis as a model system. The work combines classical and molecular genetics, with cell biology, physiology and computational modelling to understand the hormonal networks that deliver adaptive developmental plasticity.

Ottoline has a long-term interest in science policy and served as CEO of UK Research and Innovation from 2020-2025. A particular focus has been on the related topics of research and innovation culture- how to foster vibrant, creative, successful research and innovation environments where people and ideas thrive; and how to break down the barriers between science and wider society.

Previous Positions

2020 to 2025 - CEO - UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

2013 to 2020 - Director - Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University, England

2012 to present - Fellow  - Clare College, University of Cambridge, England

2011 to 2013 - Associated Director - Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University, England

2002 to 2010 - Professor of Plant Development - Department of Biology, University of York, England

1999 to 2002 - Reader - Department of Biology, University of York, England

1994 to 1999 - Lecturer - Department of Biology, University of York, England

1993- to 1994 - Postdoctoral Researcher, Furner Lab - Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, England

1990 to 1993 - Postdoctoral Researcher, Estelle Lab - Department of Biology, Indiana University, USA

Qualifications

1990 PhD in Genetics - Newnham College, University of Cambridge, England

1986 BA Hons in Genetics - Newnham College, University of Cambridge, England

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Academy Fellowships

2023 - Elected Honorary Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

2021 - Elected Fellow of the Acadamia Europea

2021 - Elected Fellow of the Science Museum

2020 - Elected Honory Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences

2014-  Elected to the Leopoldina

2012 - Elected Foreign Associate, National Academy of Sciences USA

2007 - Elected Fellow of the Royal Society

2007 - Elected Member of EMBO

Awards

2023 - Royal Society Croonian Medal and Lecture

2020 - British Society for Developmental Biology Waddington Medal

2019 - Rutherford Memorial Lecturer

2018 - OlChemlm Award for Plant Hormone Research

2017 - Appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire

2017 - FEBS/EMBO Women in Science Award

2016 - UK Genetics Society Medal

2010 - International Plant Growth Substance Association Silver Medal

2009 - Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire

2009 - University of York Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Award

2007 - Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award

2000 - Society for Experimental Biology President’s Medal

Committees

2026 to present - Advisory Council Chair - Bennett School of Public Policy, England

2025 to present - Member - Cambridge University Press Academic Advisory Board

2025 to present - Chair - Innovate Cambridge Advisory Council, England

2025 to 2026 - Member - Human Frontiers Science Programme Grand Review High Level Panel

2017 to 2025 - Member - Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, England

Honory Degrees

2026 - Honorary Doctorate - University of Dundee, Scotland

2024 - Honorary Doctorate - University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada

2019 - Honorary Doctorate - University of Aberdeen, Scotland

2016 - Honorary Doctorate - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Gjøvik and Ålesund, Norway

2014 - Honorary Doctorate - Swedish Agricultural University, Uppsala, Sweden

Media & Press

2025 - “Science must shed elitist image” interview - The Financial Times

2023 - Private Passions guest - BBC Radio 3

2022 - “How to Lead” interview series - Financial Time

2021 - Life Scientific 10 year anniversary “What Makes a Scientist?” - BBC Radio 4