About our speaker
Jonathan is responsible for advancing KAUST’s strategic vision to accelerate impact by strengthening its leadership in global and Saudi Arabian higher education. His efforts focus on transformative academic programming, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, and cultivating strategic partnerships. In addition to spearheading these initiatives, Jonathan collaborates with senior leadership to align and progress the university’s broader strategic goals.
Jonathan’s expertise spans biomedical and health R&D policy, research impact assessment, evidence-based policymaking, and the evolving social purpose of universities in the 21st century. His extensive international experience includes shaping and implementing R&D strategies across the UK, Greece, Norway, Qatar, Oman, Abu Dhabi, Australia, Canada, and the USA.
Before joining KAUST, Jonathan founded Different Angles Ltd, a consultancy dedicated to maximising the social impact of universities and research. Over five years, he led diverse projects for universities and research funders worldwide, while also developing training programs focused on research impact and the civic mission of universities. Notably, his online program, Impact by Design, remains available through his website.
Prior to launching Different Angles in 2020, Jonathan served as a professor of public policy at King’s College London. Joining in 2014, he established the Policy Institute and served as its Director until 2017. He then ‘held the pen’ in crafting King’s strategic vision, Vision 2029. Subsequently, he became Vice President & Vice Principal (Service), overseeing the university’s pioneering commitment to social responsibility. This included initiatives in social reform, research impact, service-led learning, volunteering, and environmental sustainability—key components of King’s vision.
Earlier in this career, Jonathan was the President of RAND Europe from 2006 to 2012, where he significantly expanded the organisation’s operations and co-founded the Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research, a collaboration with the University of Cambridge. Before joining RAND, he served as Head of Policy at the Wellcome Trust.
Jonathan is author of The New Power University: The Social Purpose of Higher Education in the 21st Century, published by Pearson in March 2021.
The New Power University: The Social Purpose of Higher Education in the 21st Century
Informed by his book of the same title, Jonathan Grant will examine the shifting role of universities in response to evolving societal needs and generational changes. The talk will outline a historical progression from traditional institutional models—such as the "Confessional University" and the "Civic University"—toward a new framework influenced by "new power". This emerging model emphasises openness, participation, and peer-driven collaboration in both governance and education delivery.
In the talk, Jonathan will apply the concept of "new power," defined by Timms and Heimans, to the modern university. He will argue that universities must integrate a mission focused on social responsibility, moving beyond academic silos to address critical global issues such as climate change, mental health, and social justice. He will suggest that the priorities of Generation Z, including sustainability, equity, and ethical engagement, are driving transformations in higher education. This demographic’s expectations for lifelong learning and socially conscious practices require universities to reform academic structures, research priorities, and leadership strategies.
The presentation will emphasise that research impact must be reimagined through interdisciplinary collaboration, community-driven inquiry, and citizen science initiatives. This will require redefining academic incentives to promote research that delivers tangible societal benefits as well as reconsidering the balance between institutional neutrality and social advocacy.
In conclusion, the concept of the New Power University, will be applied to the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, where Jonathan has recently joined as VP for Strategic Initiatives. Although a completely different context to the UK and other Western universities, the same pressures for KAUST to be aligned with societal need, foster innovation, and secure its role as a key driver of social progress in the 21st century are very much evident.