One year on: RSB Chief Executive reflects as Biology Week begins

As the Royal Society of Biology (RSB) prepares for its 15th Biology Week, we sat down with Chief Executive Dr Doug Brown FRSB to reflect on his first year in post, and what he's most looking forward to in Biology Week, which will run from 8-18 October 2026.

This year's Biology Week theme is 'a complete celebration of biology and nature from A to Z'. If you had to choose just one letter to sum up your first year as CEO, which would it be and why?

'E' for 'epic'. There are four things that stood out to make my first year as the RSB's Chief Executive epic.

• Getting to know the breadth of our membership through the time that I've spent with individual members, our Fellows, and Member Organisations (MOs). Seeing how passionate they are about everything they do is really infectious!
• We're uniquely structured as a sector, with lots of individual organisations supporting specialist parts of bioscience, and it's been a pleasure to see a real willingness to work together in the best way to support all those that we represent.
• We've also got a number of new initiatives off the ground over the last year which has been epic, including the ever-growing work we're doing to support people's bioscience careers. From school all the way through to late-stage careers, we're here as a central point of support and to be a louder voice for the biology community.
• Working with the amazing RSB team, as well as all the volunteers working with us in various roles and committees, has also been a massive highlight. They're all doing fabulous work and really going above and beyond to deliver as much as possible for our members and the wider sector.

What are you most looking forward to about Biology Week this year?

To shout about biology, to celebrate what we do as a sector, and the things that we can do in contributing to society going forwards. Biology Week is really that moment where we can work across the community to raise its visibility and remind people how important biology is.

I'm also really looking forward to the Spelling Bee — it's a really fun activity! The competition is for school age students across the UK to compete to spell words specific to science accurately, which they may not encounter as often outside their science classrooms. I'm always flabbergasted at the scores that come through on the Spelling Bee, and it's lovely to see how many schools and students get involved.

What are some of the important conversations you hope Biology Week sparks this year?

How exciting it is to have a career in biology! I'm a bit biased, of course, but I've loved my career in the biosciences. Biology Week is a great way to help more people be aware of what a career can look like in biology and attract and retain the next generation of inspiring biologists!

Another is that we know biology and biologists hold the solutions to the vast majority of the global challenges that we're all facing. Highlighting the role that biology can play for decision makers, government funders, and for people to be reminded of the importance of continuing to support, invest in, and facilitate the work that happens across the biosciences is a very important aspect of Biology Week.

If you could invite any biologist, past or present, to Biology Week, who would it be and why?

I've got two. The first is the one and only Sir David Attenborough, Honorary Fellow of the RSB. He is a legend, of course, but more than anyone, he has done huge amounts to raise the profile of biology. He's such a trusted voice and it's great to have him as an advocate for our sector.

The other one's a very personal one; it's my A-level biology teacher, Dr Gillespie at Burnham Grammar School. He was so fantastic at nurturing the passion that people had about biology in very quirky ways, including spending hours drawing out figures and diagrams on overhead projector acetate (showing my age there…)! He made biology incredibly accessible, lots of fun, and he was really one of the reasons why I chose to follow a career in the biosciences.

L-R: RSB Chief Executive Dr Doug Brown FRSB, winner of School Biology Teacher of the Year Award 2025 Sarah Girasoli, and former RSB President Professor Sir Ian Boyd FRSB. 

What has surprised you most about the role?

It's a funny one but it was when I found out that a banana is not a herb…! I used to hold the view that a banana is a herb, but I got shot down by some of our staff who had studied plant sciences. So I took it upon myself to consult with some world expert plant scientists that are in our membership and committees. And, sadly for me, they confirmed it is a fruit.

As you begin your second year as CEO, what are you most looking forward to?

Careers support

I'm really proud of our careers offering. It's completely inclusive of all stages and specialisms of bioscience careers, and I want to continue to grow this to bring the most value to supporting people in choosing a career and beyond.

Public engagement

Building on Biology Week, and working with others in the science community, I want us to continue to raise the profile of how great and exciting science is. Also to look at how we can help tackle some of that growing body of misinformation out there, and support people in understanding evidence and where to find that evidence.

Advocacy

Increasing the volume of our voice even further through our advocacy work. There's lots of uncertainty – globally and in the UK – but together with our community we know what's needed for the biosciences. We can work with decision makers to make sure they hear the voices of the bioscientists to enhance, enable, and increase the impact of what we do.

It's a really exciting time to be engaging with us at the RSB. We want to hear from as many people as possible, getting their views, opinions, and insights to shape our work.

Biology Week 2026 takes place from 8-18 October. The full list of events and resources can be found on our website.