Professor Sarah Sharples
Biography
Professor Sarah Sharples is Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department for Transport. She is a Professor of Human Factors in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham and from 2018 to 2021 was Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and People.
She has led research in transport, manufacturing and healthcare, and currently leads the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Connected Everything Network Plus.
She founded and is co-director of the EPSRC Horizon Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT), and has led research programmes examining implementation of new technologies in rail, highways and aviation.
She was President of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors from 2015 to 2016.
DfT Chief Scientific Adviser
The Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA):
- provides advice and independent challenge to ministers and senior officials
- ensures that science and engineering evidence and advice is robust, relevant and high quality
- ensures there are mechanisms for science and engineering to underpin policymaking and the delivery of services and operations
- assures the operation of the principles of scientific advice to government to all external scientific advice
- is responsible for the DfT Science Plan
- works with CSAs in other departments to share good practice across government and identify and resolve cross-departmental science issues
- is the Head of the Science and Engineering Profession (HoSEP) at Department for Transport