Dr Claire Thorne

I jointly lead the skills charity Tech She Can - working to increase the number of women in technology roles. As a woman in tech, a returner, a physicist and a mum, I’m super passionate about innovation, parity and equality in the workplace, and STEM education and research.

I also support the creation of deep-tech science companies as Venture Partner at Deep Science Ventures where I’m developing a new flavour of PhD: the Venture Science Doctorate - diversity-first and venture-led. 

My background is in innovation in research-intensive environments, spanning universities, government and business. I’ve led multi-million pound acquisitions, such as iKinema by Apple; developed the vision and strategy for Imperial College London’s White City £3bn 23-acre innovation district; and operated the #1global university business incubator. I’ve worked across digital, smart infrastructure, space, security and defence innovation ecosystems.

I am a UN UK Delegate to the UN Commission on the Status of Women and a member of the Institute of Coding’s Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board. In 2022, I was named in Computer Weekly’s ‘Top 50 Most Influential Women in Tech’. I hold a PhD in Astroparticle Physics from Imperial on the direct detection of dark matter, conducted in a working mine 1km underground.