Ian Brotherston | Interim Deputy Director Innovation Funding
Innovate UK

Dr Ian Brotherston Interim Deputy Director for Innovation Funding at Innovate UK. This role is responsible for setting the strategy, and then delivering and maximising impact across the portfolio of Innovate UK grant products. The portfolio covers Smart, New Innovators, Analysis for Innovators, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and Contracts for Innovation. The portfolio had more than 2000 grants and contracts and a budget of >£100m p.a. Previously Ian was Head of Government Levers at Innovate UK where he was responsible for the delivery of Innovate UK’s ‘Government Levers’ strategy, specifically the role of procurement in stimulating innovation, including delivery of the SBRI Programme, and the role of regulation, standards and NQI in innovation. Previously Ian was responsible for Innovate UK’s relationships with colleagues in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, their governments & agencies, and other key UK Government departments and key private and public sector stakeholders. Ian joined Innovate UK in February 2015 as KTP Programme Manager. In this role Ian led a major operational overhaul and strategic realignment of the programme. Prior to Innovate UK Ian was Head of Enterprise at Heriot-Watt University where he was responsible for the industry sponsored research, commercial exploitation of IP, and enterprise creation. His commercial background includes spells working for QinetiQ and DERA, and Ionic Polymer Solutions, a chemical start-up company which developed novel high-temperature proton conductive membranes for fuel cells.