Royal Albert Hall Names Prof Daisy Fancourt As Its First Associate Scientist

Professor Daisy Fancourt has been appointed as the Royal Albert Hall's first ever Associate Scientist, and will lead on a programme of events that link the arts with science, building on her work demonstrating how the power of music positively impacts health.

The researcher will also serve as the senior scientific advisor to the venue's Creative Wellbeing programme, which relaunches in September. During her three-year tenure, she will help shape evidence-based community engagement work, including initiatives available on the NHS under social prescription.

The appointment is central to the Royal Albert Hall's founding mission to promote the arts and sciences. Key scientific events across its 155-year history include one of the world's first exhibitions of electric light, appearances by leading figures from Einstein to Prof Stephen Hawking, and a 2014 symposium Imagining the Future of Medicine.

Prof. Fancourt said: “It is an honour to be the inaugural Associate Scientist for the Royal Albert Hall, a venue I have visited numerous times and had the pleasure of performing on the stage of. At UCL, I have the privilege of directing the World Health Organisation's Collaborating Centre of Arts and Health and the UNESCO Chair in Arts & Global Health. Our research is demonstrating the tangible, meaningful impact that the arts have on mental and physical health at an individual level and on societal health and wellbeing more broadly. This research is providing even more reasons why everyone should have the opportunity to engage with the arts. By providing not only world-class artistic events but an incredibly inclusive approach to engaging audiences, the Royal Albert Hall is an inspiring organisation. I hope to use the position of Associate Scientist to raise public awareness about the fascinating science of the arts.”

Matt Todd, Director of Programming at the Royal Albert Hall, said: “This appointment is a major advancement for the Hall. We're delighted to be working with Daisy. Over the past few years, we have recognised a shared mission to improve lives through music, and the formalisation of this relationship represents a major milestone in this ongoing work. Throughout her career, including in the recent book, Art Cure, Daisy has shared the science that demonstrates the power of the arts to positively impact health. Her appointment will bring arts and science together at the Hall, while her data-driven approach will help us to identify and meet the need for Creative Wellbeing in our community.”

Prof Fancourt is one of the world's most highly cited and influential scientists. Her research has been recognised with personal fellowships from Wellcome and the British Academy, as well as two dozen national and international awards. She has been named as a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health and the Royal Society of Arts, an ITV Geek of the Week, a BBC New Generation Thinker, and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. She also holds a First Class degree in Music from the University of Oxford. She is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health, which has been translated into a dozen languages and is currently shortlisted for the Women's Prize for non-fiction.