Former University of Cambridge vice-chancellor Leszek Borysiewicz has been named the government’s preferred candidate to be the next chair of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Science secretary Liz Kendall lined up the British immunologist for the position, and the move will now be scrutinised by MPs. If he is appointed, Borysiewicz will succeed current chair, businessman Andrew Mackenzie, who has been in post for five years.

As well as leading Cambridge from 2010 to 2017, Borysiewicz served as chair of Cancer Research UK from 2016 to 2023 and chief executive of the Medical Research Council from 2007 to 2010.

As chair, Borysiewicz will be responsible for steering UKRI’s strategy. The body recently unveiled a major shake-up in the way it distributes funding for research, with its budget split across four “R&D buckets”. 

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Kendall said Borysiewicz’s appointment “will help ensure our record public investment in research and innovation supports economic growth, backs the industries of the future and improves lives across the UK”.

Borysiewicz said he was “delighted” to be the preferred candidate. 

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“I look forward to engaging with the myriad of research communities in all sectors, as well as supporting UKRI in delivering this exciting agenda of driving economic growth, strengthening the UK’s global competitiveness and improving lives,” he said.

The decision will be scrutinised this month by the House of Commons’ Science, Innovation and Technology Committee before it is finalised. 

If approved, Borysiewicz is expected to take up the role “later this summer”. 

UKRI chief executive Ian Chapman said Borysiewicz’s “depth of knowledge, experience and leadership will be of huge value to UKRI as we seek to deliver for the UK’s public on our mission to advance knowledge, change lives and drive growth”. 

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Both Chapman and Kendall thanked Mackenzie for his service, and Mackenzie described Borysiewicz as “an outstanding choice”.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com