TUS Professor named only TU representative on new National Science Advice Forum

Local professor Neil Rowan has spoken of his delight at being selected for a prestigious role on the newly formed National Advice Forum.

Based at Athlone's Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), Prof Rowan will join 11 other members on the forum, including representatives from Trinity College, Dublin, University of Cork, and the University of Cambridge. The new panel was announced by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless and will be chaired by the Government Science Advisor, Professor Aoife McLysaght.

The aim of the forum will be to provide cross-sectoral, multi-disciplinary advice to help the government respond to complex challenges that will inform policies.

Prof Rowan said: “I am honoured to be appointed to the new National Science Advice Forum for Ireland. I am humbled to be joining such a distinguished panel of global experts. It is a privilege to leverage my three decades of applied expertise and wonderful experiences to stakeholders and end-users to enable and advance the innovation nexus between public health, biotechnology, agriculture, food safety and digital transformation.”

Professor Vincent Cunnane, President of TUS said: “The appointment is a testament to Neil's world-leading expertise and our university's commitment to delivering impactful research. As a dedicated mentor and researcher, Neil embodies the TUS value of being collaborative – connecting knowledge with policy for the benefit of our region and beyond.”

The membership of the forum will be for a period of three years and participation in the forum is voluntary, the Minister said.

Minister Lawless said: “I am delighted to appoint the first members of the Science Advice Forum. The level of interest, and the calibre of those interested, was exceptionally high. I look forward to the contribution of the forum in the period ahead.”

Professor Rowan has over three decades experience in supporting, enabling and leading interdisciplinary research for meeting complex societal challenges that has informed multiple strategic policies regionally and internationally. Neil has supervised over 40 PhDs in the areas of medtech, food safety and security, environmental sustainability, bioeconomy and digital transformation, and has cross-disciplinary experience in advancing technologies and innovation for stakeholders that includes ecosystem building and modelling for real-world applications.

He was the inaugural co-founder and first Research Manager for Roberston Laboratories for Electronic Sterilization where his research was rated as top of scale by UK Research Assessment Exercise. He holds Adjunct Professorships in several leading universities including School of Medicine, Nursing and Biomedical Science at University of Galway. He was appointed by the United Nations panel for the Effects of Nuclear War (2025-2027), and is inaugural Director of the Bioscience Research Institute at TUS, a position he held for 13 years.

Prof Rowan serves on the editorial board for several leading scientific journals and has contributed previously to scientific committee of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. He holds fellowships to several professional bodies including Institute of Food Science and Technology. He is Principle Investigator (PI) for the first €5m Bioeconomy Demonstration flagship facility at scale in Ireland that harnesses the peatlands as alternative strategy to use of fossil fuels.

He is a PI at Research Ireland’s CURAM Centre for Medical Devices and has published over 200 journal papers in pressing cross-cutting topics that appears in strategic policy documents globally. He has a strong social medial presence with over 12,000 LinkedIn followers. Neil also has a Higher Doctorate of Science thesis under review at Strathclyde University.