Jason Crain

Professor Jason Crain, originally from New York City, received his undergraduate degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (including participation in the MIT–Japan Program) and his PhD from the University of Edinburgh. He served on the faculty of the University of Edinburgh for 25 years, holding the Chair of Applied Physics. He subsequently held senior executive roles at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL), including Head of Physical Sciences and Executive Director of Research. In these roles he was responsible for the National Laboratory’s research strategy, scientific quality, and the translation of research into commercial services, standards, and national capability. He was a member of the Heads of Science and Profession (HoSEP) Board chaired by the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser. Professor Crain has collaborated with IBM Research since 2003 and joined IBM in 2016 to help lead strategic initiatives in advanced computing. He was appointed Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford in 2018. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, Senior Visiting Fellow and Laboratory Council Member of the UK National Nuclear Laboratory, and serves on the TechUK Emerging Technology Leadership Committee, contributing to UK strategy in quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and sovereign computational infrastructure. His scientific background is in condensed matter physics and the properties of matter at the molecular and materials scale. He has made significant contributions to understanding structure–property relationships in complex systems using combinations of experimental and computational techniques, including work that reshaped understanding of liquid structure and pressure-induced electronic transitions in technologically important materials. More recently, his work has focused on the convergence of high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing for industrially relevant simulation and discovery. He has advanced hybrid quantum–classical approaches for materials and molecular systems, the integration of quantum simulation into engineering workflows, and the strategic development of next-generation computational ecosystems that combine AI, HPC, and quantum technologies. Professor Crain has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and has led major interdisciplinary programmes spanning academia, national laboratories, and industry.

Recent external coverage

https://www.hartree.stfc.ac.uk/blog/2026/02/24/breaking-through-quantum-bottlenecks-how-classical-shortcuts-enable-more-complex-materials-simulations/

https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/custom\_author/jason-crain-sciacca/

https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/custom\_author/jason-crain/

https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2018/02/antibiotic-resistance-gains-some-respect/

https://www.gci.cam.ac.uk/news/the-uk2019s-research-councils-are-at-the-very-core-of-efforts-to-overcome-antimicrobial-resistance

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/xrcprogrammes/tackling-antimicrobial-resistance/antimicrobial-resistance-uk-research-overview/