About Vanguard Science
A professional community for scientists and engineers who intend to lead at the forefront of their fields.
The next decade will be shaped by science. It should also be led by scientists.
Health, energy, climate and artificial intelligence are scientific challenges as much as commercial or political ones. The people with the deepest understanding of them are scientists and engineers, yet a scientific training rarely includes how to lead a team, raise capital, communicate beyond a specialist audience or bring an idea to market.
Those skills can be learned. Vanguard Science teaches them early, measures progress honestly, and connects members with the people and opportunities that turn ability into impact.
A Vanguard Scientist owns the full arc of their work.
They take a discovery from the finding to the funding, from the paper to the product. Technically rigorous, strategically literate, and unwilling to let good science die in a journal.
Our aim is a global community of scientific leaders working across research, industry, investment and public life, and helping one another succeed.
The standards every member, and the Society itself, is held to.
- 01Integrity. Evidence comes first. We never present a claim as stronger than it is, and we correct errors openly.
- 02Responsibility. Innovation should serve people and the planet. We consider the wider consequences of our work before we act.
- 03Ownership. We take responsibility for outcomes, not only for advice.
- 04Merit. Recognition is earned through demonstrated achievement, never by title or tenure.
- 05Generosity. Every member gives time and guidance to those earlier in their career.
Independent by design.
Vanguard Science works with partners across industry, investment, universities and the public sector. Partners support the programme. They do not influence who is admitted, how members are assessed, or what we publish.
Dr Ben Miles
Scientist, investor and founder
Dr Ben Miles hosts one of the world's largest science platforms, with more than three million followers, and is the Founder and General Partner of Empirical Ventures, a £50m deep-tech fund and venture builder. He has helped launch 200 deep-tech ventures, and has spent his career at the intersection of research, entrepreneurship and capital.
“The gap between what scientists discover and what changes in the world is almost never the science. It is everything around it. Vanguard Science exists to close that gap.”
- 3M+followers across his science platform
- £50mdeep-tech fund, Empirical Ventures
- 200deep-tech ventures launched
The founding cohort
Vanguard Science welcomes its founding cohort in 2026/27. Register your interest to hear first when applications open.