Prof. Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of the European Commission

Professor Anne Glover was Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland from 1 August 2006-31 December 2011. Her role was to further enhance Scotland’s reputation as a science nation.

Anne currently holds a Personal Chair of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Aberdeen and has honorary positions at the Rowett and Macaulay Institutes and the University of New South Wales, Sydney. She is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Institute of Biology, the Royal Society of Arts and the American Academy of Microbiology.

Most of Anne’s academic career has been spent at the University of Aberdeen where she has an active research group pursuing a variety of areas from microbial diversity to the development and application of whole cell biosensors (biological sensors) for environmental monitoring and investigating how organisms respond to stress at a cellular level.

Through her roles in teaching and speaking at science festivals and to lay audiences, Anne has been keen to try and convey the excitement and relevance of science to non-scientists. She has promoted this activity both as Chief Scientific Adviser and through her role on the Natural Environment Research Council where she has also been involved in setting strategy, optimising mechanisms for science delivery and scientific training and securing budgets for environmental research in the UK.

Anne was recognised in March 2008 as a Woman of Outstanding Achievement by the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology and was awarded a CBE for services to Environmental Science in the Queen’s New Years Honours list 2009. In June 2009 she was appointed Chair of the UK Collaborative on Development Sciences.

On the 1st January 2012, Anne joined the European Commission as Chief Scientific Adviser to the President.