Professor Michael Thomas
Biography
Professor Michael Thomas was appointed Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department for Education in January 2026.
He is a cognitive neuroscientist and developmental psychologist, a professor at Birkbeck University of London and a previous director of the University of London Centre for Educational Neuroscience.
His work focuses on translational research and dialogue between neuroscience, psychology and educational policy and practice.
His research includes:
- trials in schools – for example, to improve science and mathematics learning
- cohort studies of adolescent cognitive development, wellbeing and technology use
- longitudinal studies of children with neurodevelopmental conditions
- computational neuroscience studies of brain plasticity
Before joining Birkbeck, Michael completed his PhD in experimental psychology at the University of Oxford and a fellowship at University College London (UCL) Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health.
Michael is also a:
- Chartered Psychologist
- Fellow of the British Psychological Society
- Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
DfE Chief Scientific Adviser
The Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA):
- delivers independent and impartial scientific advice to ministers and policymakers across the DfE portfolio
- ensures that science and engineering advice is robust and high quality
- is responsible for science strategy within DfE is involved in cross-government science policy through the CSA Network
The CSA is also the Head of the Science and Engineering Profession (HoSEP) at DfE.