[6] He then worked at the Centre for Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the Royal Greenwich Observatory, during its incarnation at Herstmonceux, East Sussex; the School of Mathematical Sciences and then the Department of Physics, Queen Mary University of London; and in 1994 was appointed to the Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh.

He was the Principal Investigator for the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS), which received the Group Award of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2012.

He has also published a short historical/popular booklet on the life and achievements of Charles Piazzi Smyth, the second Astronomer Royal for Scotland.

Lawrence teaches on the Massive open online course (MOOC) at Coursera on AstroTech: The Science and Technology behind Astronomical Discovery.

[13] He has been involved in a number of Arts-science collaborations, notably with New York composer Matt Giannotti,[14] and with a Spanish film maker on the documentary A Residence Above The Clouds.