Simon Dobson is Professor of Computer Science in the School of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews, and was Head of School from 2017 – 2021. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s national academy, in 2020.
Simon works on complex and sensor systems, focusing on sensor analytics and the modelling and simulation of complex processes This has included working with computational models of disease epidemics and information spreading, seeking to understand how multiple diseases (or rumours) can interact as they spread within a population. addressing these questions involves developing both new mathematical techniques and improved software to simplify simulation and data analysis at scale. More recently, Simon has become interested in how sensor-driven and AI technologies are changing the power requirements of computing, from devices all the way up to data centres, and in approaches that will let us achieve a sustainable, low-power computing future.
Simon has previously worked at the UK STFC‘s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; at Trinity College Dublin and UCD Dublin in Ireland; and as the founder and CEO of a research-led Dublin-based start-up company. He holds a BSc from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and DPhil from the University of York, both in computer science, is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the British Computer Society.
Professor Dobson joined the SSAC on 1 March 2025.
