Duncan Thomas

Duncan Thomas is a Professor at the University of Manchester's Manchester Institute of Innovation Research within Manchester Business School. He joined in 2002 and has been actively involved in teaching, research leadership, and policy advisory roles. His teaching focuses on water supply and sanitation planning in developing countries, including a Coursera MOOC launched in collaboration with Prof. Dale Whittington. He also delivers executive education for UK water companies and supervises two full-time PhD researchers.

Education: PhD (2002) in Technology and Innovation Policy from University of Manchester, MSc (1998) in Technical Change and Industrial Strategy (PREST), and BSc (1995) in Physics from Imperial College London. Prior academic roles include Research Engineer at Thorn EMI's Central Research Laboratories (1994-97).

Research interests span European science dynamics, innovation in water utility sectors, climate resilience strategies, and global water policy. His work on UK water sector innovation barriers (2006) influenced high-level regulatory practices, including Ofwat's Future Regulation Advisory Panel appointment (2012). Funded research projects include EURECIA (EU FP7), UNI-Tekes (Finnish funding), and EPSRC's CREW initiative on extreme weather resilience.

Key impacts include contributions to UK/EU water policy through regulatory advisory roles and collaborative research with over 48 publications. His work bridges academia and industry, addressing challenges in innovation systems, sustainability, and science policy.