Dr Gemma Milne

Director – Deep Tech Innovation Centre
Lecturer in Innovation and Technology Management, Adam Smith Business School

Gemma Milne is a Lecturer in Innovation and Technology Management at the University of Glasgow, and a writer and broadcaster focused on cultural, economic and social concerns of science and technology. Her research focuses on the political economy of lab-to-market processes, with a particular focus on alternative organisational and financial structures for deep tech.

Gemma is author of Smoke & Mirrors: How Hype Obscures the Future and How to See Past It; has written for outlets such as The Guardian, WIRED, Forbes, the BBC and others; and is co-host of the Radical Science podcast.

Gemma has been an Expert Assessor for the European Commission and Innovate UK, a Fellow of the Institute for the Future of Work, an Innovation Jury Member for SXSW and a Scout for Backed VC.

Selected publications

2026The Science Philanthropy Vibe ShiftConference paperOn request
2026Scottish Deep Tech Report 2026ReportPublisher
2026New Dog, Old Tricks: The Central Contradiction of Intellectual Property in Deep TechWorking paperOn request
2025Mission Drift: How Institutional Complexity Keeps New Space Off CourseConference paperOn request
2023The Platformisation of Biotech: Rentiership, Rhetoric and the Value of OrphansConference paperOn request

Newsletter

New research, open events and the occasional argument. Roughly monthly.