Professor Iain Docherty FRSE

Dean, Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Stirling

Iain Docherty is Dean of the Institute for Advanced Studies and Professor of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Stirling. Iain’s research and teaching addresses the interconnecting issues of public administration, institutional/political change and city- and regional competitiveness, with particular emphasis on the structures and processes of local and regional governance, policies for delivering improved economic performance and environmental sustainability, and the development and implementation of strategic planning and transport policies. His total research and consultancy awards exceed £3 million. Iain has worked with and advised a range of private sector, governmental and other organisations including governments, public agencies and research organisations in the UK, US, Australia, Canada, Norway, eight EU countries, the European Commission and the OECD. In 2015 he was appointed by the ESRC and Innovate UK as one of five inaugural Thought Leaders working to integrate scientific innovation and social science research across the UK, and subsequently as one of the Co-Investigators and Infrastructure Theme Lead of the £1.2m ESRC Productivity Insights Network bringing together leading social science academics to help address the UK economy’s resilient productivity gap. Iain was one of three senior researchers leading the EPSRC-funded project on the transport and mobility implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, currently leads an Innovation and Research Caucus project for UKRI on strategic regional economic development, and has been a member of the academic panel that advises the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on the performance of City and Regional Growth Deals across the UK since 2022. Iain has extensive board experience as Non-Executive Director, having held numerous Ministerial- and other and public appointments. In 2021 he was appointed as a Director of the National Transport Authority of Ireland where he chairs the Capital Programmes Committee, which scrutinises the Authority’s annual billion Euro investment portfolio, and in 2024 as Chair of Scottish Rail Holdings, the Scottish Government holding company for railway operations, overseeing a key public sector budget of over 800 million Pounds.

Fellowship list