Professor Alex van Someren

Alex van Someren was appointed as the UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security in July 2021. He was previously a venture capital investor and entrepreneur, focusing on investing in early stage ‘deep technology’ startups.

Alex is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, an Honorary Professor of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, and a current member of the Royal Society’s Science, Industry and Translation Committee and the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). During 2019 he was the Visiting Clore Innovation Professor at the Royal College of Art.

Alex participated in the development of the BBC Microcomputer & Acorn Electron at Acorn Computer in the 1980s. He subsequently co-founded several technology companies, including ANT Software plc and nCipher plc which achieved listings on AIM and the London Stock Exchange, respectively.