Paul Mason

Deputy Director Research and Chief Scientific Advisor
@ Innovate UK

Paul Mason
  • Bio

Paul is Deputy Director Research and Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA) at Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board), the UK’s innovation agency. Paul has overarching responsibility for the joint thematic work between Innovate UK and the Research Councils, working together to identify and accelerate the impact of high potential research, and with the wider Government CSA network.

He leads the team responsible for identifying and evaluating significant new technology-related business opportunities for the UK and, where appropriate, turning them into robustly argued and coherent programmes. This produced the first 10 Innovate UK sector strategies (in high value manufacturing, creative industries, biosciences, ICT, electronics photonics and electrical systems, advanced materials, energy generation and supply, financial services, medicines & healthcare, and emerging technologies and industries) and the development of new Innovation Platforms in the Detection & Identification of Infectious Agents (DIIA), Sustainable Agriculture and Food (SAF IP) and Stratified Medicine (SMIP). Implementation of these programmes represents a public sector investment of over £500m.

The team runs the Emerging Technologies & Industries programme, a national programme designed to identify and accelerate to market high potential early stage technologies. Current investment areas include synthetic biology, energy harvesting, energy efficient computing, emerging imaging technologies, graphene, non-animal technologies, quantum technologies and biofilms. He also has responsibility for Innovate UK’s work in design, and for technology and market data analysis.

Before joining Technology Strategy Board he worked for 25 years in the chemical industry, and in 2007 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Paul read Chemistry at Balliol College, Oxford and in 1984 joined Courtaulds Research where he led a number of research projects, mainly fibre-related. From 1989-90 he was Group Manager for Performance Films research within the Courtaulds Films and Packaging business. He then transferred to the Strategic Research Group responsible for coordinating Courtaulds’ technology activities in Japan, and for technico-economic appraisal. This led to a two-year appointment working as a Market Analyst in the USA, helping to shape the industrial products portfolio of the Performance Films business. From 1998-2003 he led a multi-site change management programme for Acordis Acetate Products, and also assumed responsibility for European cellulose triacetate polymer sales, selling mainly to customers in the photographic and LCD polariser film markets. From sales, he moved into manufacturing, and after a brief period as Technical Manager, in 2003 became Manufacturing Manager for Acordis’ acetate plant in Coventry. He joined Technology Strategy Board in 2007.

  • My Previous Events

  • Science Summit: Collaboration Culture, Driving Innovation

    • 04-12-2013
    • 08:30 - 17:00
    • Woburn House, London
  • Science Summit: Strategy for Excellence

    • 10-12-2015
    • 08:30 - 16:20
    • America Square Conference Centre, London