Dr Eoin O'Sullivan

Director at Centre for Science Technology & Innovation Policy, University of Cambridge

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Director, Centre for Science, Technology & Innovation Policy (CSTI), Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge

Eoin O'Sullivan joined the Institute for Manufacturing as a Senior Policy Fellow in 2007. Since then Eoin has carried out research on the ways science and engineering R&D is translated in new technologies, industries and economic wealth. Eoin's policy-related activities have included studies for the UK Department of Business, Innovation & Skills; the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council; the UK Government Office of Science; the Technology Strategy Board; and the Higher Education Funding Council of England.

Eoin is one of the organisers of the Babbage Industrial Policy Network, an initiative to bring together researchers from engineering, economics and management with a shared interest in: the role of manufacturing in modern economies ways; the alignment of national technical capabilities with economic value capture opportunities; and the potential for industrial-innovation policies to promote economic competitiveness and growth.

In addition to his technology and innovation policy research activities, Eoin also maintains an interest in university research and knowledge exchange practices. He is co-author, with Dr Gary Crawley, of The Grant Writer's Handbook: How to Write a Research Proposal and Succeed (Imperial College Press, 2015). Eoin also maintains a set of grant writing webpages offering basic tips for researchers preparing grant applications, and gives occasional grant-writing workshops (with particular focus on communicating research impact and the value of research partnerships).

Before joining the IfM, Eoin was Special Advisor to the Director General of Science Foundation Ireland. At SFI, Eoin managed several university-industry initiatives including the national Centres for Science, Engineering & Technology programme. Eoin was part of the original team that set up SFI. He was both a Senior Policy Advisor at Forfas, The Irish National Policy & Advisory Board for Enterprise, Trade, Science, Technology & Innovation. Eoin keeps in regular contact with the research base in Ireland: He is a member of the Knowledge Transfer & Innovation Committee, Trinity College Dublin, the international advisory Board of the Cantillon Centre for Entrepreneurship, Design & Innovation (University College Dublin) and the governance committee of the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (University College Cork).

Eoin has a BSc from University College Cork and a D.Phil. from the Physics Department of Oxford University.

His academic interests include:

  • Governmental strategies for key emerging technologies
  • Comparative analysis of international innovation systems, institutions and policies
  • University-industry research collaboration mechanisms
  • The influence of standards and regulation on emerging technologies and industries
  • The 'manufacturability' and 'scale-up' challenges of key emerging technologies
  • The coordination and alignment of government agencies' support for emerging technologies