ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

Professor Tom Brown’s career at the University of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø spans more than 25 years, marked by scientific innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and a deep commitment to supporting the research community. Now Vice‑Principal (Research, Collections and Innovation), he first arrived in ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø in 1999 as a postdoctoral researcher building and developing laser systems.

Over the decades, Tom has moved through academic roles from lecturer to professor, before stepping into senior leadership positions initially as Dean of Science and later Vice‑Principal for Research. His portfolio now spans research strategy, interdisciplinary initiatives, innovation, and the University’s libraries and museums. He describes the heart of his role as “enabling our staff to do the research that they want to undertake in a way that’s sustainable for the university.”

To find out more about his leadership journey, his research career, and how an experiment on Aldi prawns led to an Antarctic adventure and a shipwreck stranding, read on…

“Before I came to ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, I was working in the city of London, hating it, and interested in doing a job that I wanted to do, somewhere where I wanted to live.

“For what I did at that time, which was building and developing lasers, there were two outstanding places to do that in Scotland, and that was Strathclyde or ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø. I always joke that I looked at the weather statistics and chose ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø.

“I came here as a postdoc in April 1999, building and developing laser systems. I was lucky – about 18 months into the contract I switched to work for Professor Wilson Sibbett, who was a defining world-leader in the kinds of lasers we were building, which were making really short pulses of light.

“Wilson offered me a role helping him run what, at that time I believe, was the biggest grant that EPSRC had ever awarded, bringing together a major collaboration of universities and companies to look at the underpinning technologies for future optical communications.

“We started the project in 2000. This was a great role because it gave me the experience of managing a big collaboration alongside developing my own research programme. I also started to look at how to use some of the lasers we were developing could be used in biology and medicine, working with Wilson and Professor Kishan Dholakia alongside a range of great postdocs and PhD students. The first experiments we were doing were focused on how to use lasers to drill holes in living cells to be able to do what’s called transfection, putting new DNA into the cells.

“We showed how that could be done and how those processes could be improved, and at the same time, building on work Kishan was doing around optical manipulation, being able to pick cells up and move them with lasers prior to doing the transfection.

“I was  successful in applying for a lectureship in Physics and Astronomy in 2005. I continued to work in that area, doing many interesting things (to me) around lasers and what’s called photonics, which is the science of how you use light for applications. As research areas diversified, I was really lucky to be able to work together with colleagues in School of Medicine, Chemistry, Biology.

“For me, what’s always been great has been that underpinning interdisciplinarity that enables us to show how the research we’re doing makes a difference in other disciplines and hopefully in the wider world.

“Perhaps the best example of that work is work that’s led by Professor Kenny Wood in Physics that I’ve been fortunate to work on, which has been about using the models that Kenny developed for astronomy in medicine, understanding about how you use light to treat skin cancer.

“We work really working closely with the Scottish Photodynamic Therapy Centre at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where they use treatments for their patients. They were interested many things including understanding what how long should they treat patients for, how deep would the light penetrate for treatment, and how could treatment progress be monitored?

“It is so important we can show that our research is making a difference to the wider community. That’s always been important to me, and it’s always been fun. Science should be fun.”

Tom’s path into leadership grew naturally from his instinct to support others and to help shape an environment where excellent research can thrive.

“I worked through all the grades in the School – lecturer, senior lecturer, reader, and then in 2017 I became a Professor in Physics.

“I wanted to see how the University works at a bigger scale, so I applied for the Dean of Science position, and was appointed in 2018. I did that role for a year, when it was really in transition from a very academic-focussed decanal role, into a wider role that involved supporting the University in a faculty-based way.

“After a year the then Vice-Principal for Research left the University and I applied for that role to which I was appointed in 2019. I was in the role for seven months and then Covid happened, which rather changed what the role was and what was important.

“Through the whole period of lockdown, I was one of the people working with the senior leadership team here, managing the University through COVID, and that was one of the most interesting, challenging and hard-working periods of my life, all done while sitting at a desk at home.

“Early in my role I was involved in managing the response to, and the aftermath of the fire that took place in our Biomolecular Sciences building. Reconstructing the BMS building during Covid was pretty challenging, though nothing like as challenging as the direct effects on our researchers who were affected by the fire.

“Since that period, my role expanded to include Collections – which is Libraries and Museums – so I’m now Vice-Principal for Research, Collections and Innovation. It’s been great to work with our teams in University Collections and also get the chance to peek behind the scenes of our fantastic museums.

“The great thing about my job is it means I get to talk to interesting people about interesting things. At the core, I see my role as enabling our staff to do the research that they want to undertake in a way that’s safe, ethical, legal and sustainable for the university. There’s always a balancing act to play in that.

“There’s an outward facing aspect in the role I do as well, I represent the University on committees at Scotland and UK level, ensuring our voice is heard and brought to the forefront of discussions, because we have a really particular perspective here at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø. And it’s important that voice is heard and recognised in a debate where some bigger players can be quite loud.

“I think we as a University have got a lot to be proud of and we need to project that as we look forward and deal with the outside world.

For Tom, research is not just an activity, it’s an ecosystem that depends on people, partnerships, and the freedom to explore ambitious ideas. He speaks passionately about creating structures that nurture discovery while still adapting to a rapidly changing external landscape. Ensuring that ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø researchers have the support, visibility, and long‑term sustainability they need is, in his view, central to the University’s future success.

“We’re developing our Research Services programme, where we’re trying to change the way that we provide support to research services. It’s been great to bring Catherine Burns in as the Executive Director of Research Services to lead that programme and pull that through. We’re thinking about how we can support our staff right from having the idea of what they want to do right through to the final innovation or impact that arises from that work.

“That’s ongoing and hopefully people will see changes in that space in the coming period. It’s a major piece of work and a really fundamental rethinking of what we’re doing.

“We’re working on raising the profile of our research and its value, too. You’ll have seen more stories in the news about research, and that’s being driven by working together with the Communications team and academic staff across the University, bringing to the forefront the importance of research.

“Universities are in a really difficult place in the world at the moment, where our values are often being questioned, so it’s really important for us to be projecting the importance of the research we do, how it affects the lives of others and how it does make a change in the world outside the University.

“We’re also in the final phases of developing a research strategy for the University. By thinking about research right at the top level of the University, we can support Schools, we can support interdisciplinary research to deliver work which is really high quality, sustainable in the long term, and also Sustainable with a capital S as well – thinking about how our research affects the wider environment, about how we can do that in a way which is careful and respectful, both of the environment and of the communities that we’re working with.

“Research and the people who undertake and support it are at the core of who and what we are as an institution. When you look at what’s happening in terms of the way governments are funding research at the moment, that’s changing. We need to be alive to those changes and be able to respond to them while keeping the core of who and what we are as ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø.”

As Tom broadens the conversation from research strategy to the wider ecosystem that supports it, world‑leading scholarship relies on more than funding and ideas – it depends on the spaces, collections, and cultural infrastructure that enable people to think, study, and connect. That’s why his role now extends beyond research to include oversight of the University’s libraries and museums, which he sees as essential partners in fostering discovery, collaboration, and public engagement.

“The other side is making sure that we’ve got libraries that are fit for purpose, working closely with Katie Eagleton as University Librarian. It was great for me to work with Katie on the library refurbishment programme a couple of years ago to put in hundreds of study spaces into the library to deliver the spaces our students need.

“I also work with Katie and her team on the Wardlaw Museum and there’s been some really high-quality exhibitions gone through that museum. I’d really encourage people to go and have a look at them. We also have partnerships working with others right across the cultural sector in Fife, and further afield, and thinking about how the University plays its role in what’s called place, how we are a key institution for this area and what that means.

“I’m also responsible for coordinating our Research Excellence Framework (REF) submission, which many people across both academic and professional services will know is underway and are helping us deliver that. It’s a seven-year cycle.

“REF is a lens by which we should view our research and impact activity, but it’s an important lens. We get around 18 million pounds a year of funding from the Scottish Government based directly on our REF performance, and that’s flexible funding that enables us to support research across the university. It’s also important to us reputationally as well, being seen to be the high-quality research institution that we are.”

Looking back on his career, certain moments stand out for Tom – not awards or titles, but new ways of seeing the world and the joy of being a scientist.

“If you’ve had your eyes tested recently you might have seen a 3D image of your retina. To do this they use a technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT). It was pioneered by Jim Fujimoto in the US and it’s now in widespread adoption.

“Working with Kishan’s team, we built a pretty simple OCT system and I was talking in the pub to a friend of mine, and former PhD student of the much missed Professor Andy Brierley, who works in the Australian Antarctic Division on marine animals called krill, and he was very interested in being able to look at these animals in 3D, and particularly then beginning to think about how, for example, ocean acidification affects embryo development.

“It turns out krill are reasonably small and fairly transparent, which meant they were quite good fun for trying in an OCT system. The first thing we had to do was proof of principle, so I went to Aldi and bought shell-on raw prawns, and showed that we could do some structural imaging using those techniques.

“I was then invited to the Krill Aquarium in Hobart in Tasmania, where they bring krill from the wild in Antarctica to show how you can use these techniques on living animals, because the great advantage of this technique is you can use it on the same animal over periods of time as it does no harm.

“I spent six weeks in Tasmania doing that and showed we could generate really high-quality images. Three months later I was invited to take a system into the Antarctic on a research vessel, which was really cool.

“I’ve always wanted to go to Antarctica. We spent two months at sea, and during which we were lucky enough to finds a 6.5-mile wide krill swarm. From what we could see off the back of the boat and from the radar, we think we had a huge number of humpback whales around the ship as well. It was all pretty staggering.

“We then headed to Mawson, an Australian Antarctic research station, and spent a week resupplying the base there on the Antarctic mainland. The night before we were going to leave, a big gale got up, snapped all the mooring lines of the ship and blew in onto the rocks on the far side of the harbour.

“I got to send my Head of School the best email ever – ‘Dear Graham, the ship’s just crashed, we’re all okay but I have literally no idea when I’m going to be back, so you might want to cover next semester’s teaching.’

“We ended up having a very complicated rescue that involved helicopters and a Japanese naval icebreaker called Shirase. It had a running track around the ship and when I did a 5km run I saw eight whales from five different species. It was pretty special in terms of wildlife.

“I loved being in the Antarctic. I had an amazing opportunity and I made great friends. I was in Australia last Christmas seeing some of the people I met on that trip.

“It was also great to see really complex science at work. We were doing a full ecosystem audit, right from the bottom of the sea to the birds and whales around the ship.

“The opportunities the University has provided for me are incredible – to be able to do interesting things and work with interesting people. I’ve got to be south of the Antarctic Circle, and north of the Arctic Circle. I was in Northern Norway a couple of years ago with the Universities of the Arctic, an organisation that we’re a member of which promotes  education and research in the Arctic.”

Alongside the highs, there have been lows.

“In December 2024 my wife made me go to the doctor because I was having to get up to go to the loo a bit more than you might expect at night. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer 2025, which was then operated on. I’m now clear of the cancer, so I’m really lucky. I still have regular testing and it’s still relatively early days in that process.

“I would encourage anyone who is concerned or has symptoms of something to just talk to your GP. You can go through the appropriate testing and hopefully it’ll be nothing, but if it is something, it’s important to get it treated as soon as you can.

“When you get back into the University, engage with occupational health. I came back on a phased return and staff have been so supportive around that.

“It’s really important to shout about what we’ve got here, to help people take advantage of the support that’s on offer at the University as well as in the wider community.

“Clearly these things are very private, and individuals vary as to how they’re going to approach these issues, but it’s important to me to speak about it and just be open and honest with people.

“I really value the support of the whole University community – everyone who supported me while I was off, who has supported me as I’ve come back – I really appreciate what everyone’s done.”

https://staffnews.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2026/03/19/professor-tom-brown-marks-25-years-of-innovation-at-st-andrews/