London

One of Britain's leading physical chemists, well known in his field but less prominent in policy-making circles, is tipped to become the UK government's next chief scientific adviser and head of the Office of Science and Technology.

King: the next chief scientist?

David King, master of Downing College, Cambridge, and head of the department of chemistry at the University of Cambridge since 1993, is said to have been picked for the post from a short list of three.

No formal offer has yet been made to King, who is currently on holiday. But time is pressing — the five-year contract of the present chief scientist, Sir Robert May, expires at the end of August, when he will start his new job as president of the Royal Society.

Born in South Africa, King studied at the University of Witwatersrand and at Rand University before coming to England. He was a lecturer at the University of East Anglia in Norwich before being appointed professor of physical chemistry at the University of Liverpool in 1974. He has been at Cambridge since 1988.

During his time at Cambridge, King, a specialist in the physics and chemistry of solid surfaces, has held several senior positions in the Royal Society of Chemistry, and has been an editor of Chemical Physics Letters since 1989. He has also held a number of advisory appointments and teaching commitments in Europe, and became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1991.

Despite his low profile in government circles, he is no stranger to the political issues concerning university researchers, having been on the national executive of the Association of University Teachers from 1970 to 1978, and the union's president in 1976–77.

“Being science adviser sounds like his sort of job,” says one chemist. “He is very good at running things, and has a reputation as a keen and efficient administrator.” If King's appointment is confirmed, he is believed to be the first chemist to have occupied the post since it was created.