Inspires a passion for knowledge and growth.
Professor Adrian Smith holds the position of Professor of Technology and Society in the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) and Professor of Management in the Department of Management at the University of Sussex Business School. He serves as Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in the Business School. Smith completed his DPhil at the University of Sussex in 1996. From 2022 to 2023, he was a Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellow, supporting his research on post-automation and digital technologies in work contexts. In 2020, he was recognized in a global list of highly cited researchers for his contributions to science and social sciences.
Smith's academic interests center on the politics and governance of innovation for sustainability, including grassroots innovations for sustainable development, transformations in complex socio-technical systems, and transitions to sustainability. His work also addresses critical policy analysis, digital work transformations, community energy initiatives, smart local energy systems, and labour regimes in agrifood value chains, exemplified by his recent book Fields of Glass: Labour Regimes, Techno-Science and Biopolitics in Agrifood Value Chains. Key publications include 'The governance of sustainable socio-technical transitions' (Smith, Stirling, Berkhout, Research Policy, 2005; cited 3555 times), 'Grassroots innovations for sustainable development: Towards a new research and policy agenda' (Seyfang, Smith, Environmental Politics, 2007; cited 2894 times), 'Innovation studies and sustainability transitions: The allure of the multi-level perspective and its challenges' (Smith, Voß, Grin, Research Policy, 2010; cited 2846 times), 'What is protective space? Reconsidering niches in transitions to sustainability' (Smith, Raven, Research Policy, 2012; cited 2670 times), and 'A thousand flowers blooming? An examination of community energy in the UK' (Seyfang, Park, Smith, Energy Policy, 2013; cited 949 times). These works have profoundly influenced sustainability transitions research and innovation studies. Smith contributes editorially as an editor for the European Urban and Regional Studies journal and engages in public dissemination through research blogs and comics on energy transitions. He holds a visiting professorship at Queen Mary University of London.
