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Jonathan Grant

Vice President, Strategic Initiatives

Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division
Email icon jonathan.grant@kaust.edu.sa

Universities and research institutions hold extraordinary potential to address society’s greatest challenges — but only when their knowledge is translated into meaningful policy and practice.

Biography

Jonathan Grant is vice president for strategic initiatives at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), where he advances the University’s vision by leading transformative academic programming, interdisciplinary collaboration, and strategic partnerships across Saudi and global higher education institutions. His expertise spans biomedical and health research and development policy, research impact assessment, and evidence-based policymaking, with experience in the Gulf region, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and the United States. 

Before joining KAUST, Grant founded Different Angles Ltd. He previously served as professor of public policy and vice president and vice principal (service) at King’s College London. Earlier, while president of RAND Europe, he co-founded the Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research with the University of Cambridge. He is the author of The New Power University: The Social Purpose of Higher Education in the 21st Century (Pearson, 2021) and has published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles, reports, and book chapters.  

Research Interests

Professor Grant’s research focuses on science policy, research impact assessment, and higher education strategy. His work examines how universities and research institutions can maximize their societal contribution, with particular attention to translating research into policy and practice. 

He has led studies on the economic returns of biomedical research, the culture of research impact, and the cost of peer review, supported by grants from the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). His scholarship addresses civic responsibility, institutional governance, and the evolving social purpose of higher education in the 21st century. 
Keyword tag icon
Civic University Antimicrobial Resistance Policy Analysis University Governance Public Policy

Education Profile

  • Ph.D., Faculty of Medicine, King’s College London, 1997 

  • B.Sc. (Econ.), Faculty of Economics, London School of Economics, 1991 

Publications

Books 

  • Grant J (2021). The New Power University. The social purpose of higher education in the 21st century. Pearson, London.

  • Benner M, Grant J and O’Kane M (2022). Crisis Response in Higher Education. How the pandemic challenged university operations and organisation. Plagrave Macmillan, Cham.

  • Davies SC, Grant J & Catchpole, M (2013). The Drugs Don’t Work. A Global Threat. Penguin, London. 

Peer-reviewed journal papers and book chapters  

  • Cohen, E., Williams, K. & Grant, J. (2025). Researcher identities and values in the impact agenda: the case of artificial intelligence academics. High Educ 90, 881–897. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01356-1. 

  • Cohen E, Williams K, Grant J (2025). The cultural impact of the impact agenda in Australia, UK and USA, Research Evaluation, Volume 34, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvaf036. 

  • Williams K, Michalska S, Cohen E, Szomszor M, Grant J (2023) Exploring the application of machine learning to expert evaluation of research impact. PLoS ONE 18(8): e0288469. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288469 

  • Adams J, Johnson J and Grant J (2022). The rise of UK–China research collaboration: Trends, opportunities and challenges, Science and Public Policy, Volume 49, Issue 1, February 2022, Pages 132–147, https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scab069.  

  • Zakaria S, Grant J and Luff J (2021). Fundamental challenges in assessing the impact of research infrastructure. Health Research Policy and Systems, 19 (1), https://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12961-021-00769-z. 

  • Votruba N, Grant J, & Thornicroft, G (2021). EVITA 2.0, an updated framework for understanding evidence based mental health policy agenda setting: tested and informed by key informant interviews in a multilevel comparative case study. Health Research Policy and Systems, 19 (1), https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-020-00651-4. 

  • Hanney SR, Wooding S, Sussex J and Grant J (2020). From COVID-19 research to vaccine application: Why might it take 17 months not 17 years and what are the wider lessons? Health Research Policy and Systems, 18(1) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-020-00571-3. 

  • Hinrichs-Krapels S, Bailey J, Boulding H, Duffy, B, Hesketh R, Kinloch E, Pollitt A, Rawlings S, van Rij A, Wilkinson B, Pow R and Grant J (2020). Using Policy Labs as a process to bring evidence closer to public policymaking: a guide to one approach. Palgrave Communication 6 (101). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-0453-0. 

  • Votruba N, Grant J & Thornicroft GJ (2020). The EVITA framework for evidence-based mental health policy agenda setting in low- and middle-income countries, Health Policy and Planning, 1 (16). https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czz179 

  • Hinrichs-Krapels S, Pollitt AR, Grant J, Wilkinson BJ & Kinloch EA (2019). Impact by design: Planning your research impact in 7Cs. Emerald Open Research. https://doi.org/10.35241/emeraldopenres.13323.1