Research Group Director, Innovation, Health and Science, RAND Europe

Jon Freeman is the research group director for RAND Europe's Innovation, Health and Science group, which provides detailed analysis and considered recommendations to support public policy decisionmakers in the UK and Europe.

Jon previously worked in higher education, central government and advisory roles. Before RAND Europe, he was head of research development and knowledge exchange at the University of Bath, leading teams that support academics in securing research funding, developing partnerships with companies and exploiting intellectual property. Prior to that he was a research leader at RAND Europe where he focussed on the policy challenges of innovation, skills, and investment decisions for the defence sector.

More generally, Jon has worked in research, innovation and policy in the public, private and higher education sectors. He worked for 12 years in central government departments and advisory bodies, including the Ministry of Defence, Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and Defence Science & Technology Labs. Through these roles he has managed policy, change and research programmes. His personal research interests include resilience and innovation, environmental security, the science-policy interface, and the governance of innovation and public sector procurement decisionmaking.

He has a doctorate in chemistry from the University of York.