Andrew Harrison began his career as a materials chemist in Oxford and Edinburgh Universities, using neutron and X-ray techniques to explore the influence of structure and quantum fluctuations on the magnetic properties of materials, illuminating a much wider range of solid-state phenomena such as superconductivity.

He went on to direct and develop research infrastructures for neutron scattering and X-ray measurements, first as Director of the Institut Laue-Langevin, the European centre for neutron scattering, in Grenoble and then as CEO of the Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron facility. Such facilities provide a large and diverse international community of scientists with some of the most incisive insights into the structure and function of materials and biological systems, with extensive impact on technologies and therapies.

Andrew has helped shape international policy for the development of research infrastructures as a member of organisations such as ESFRI with the European Commission to improve their performance and sustainability for the benefit of science and society at large. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.