John Atkins is a research professor at University College Cork and a member of the Royal Irish Academy since 2003.
[2][3] Atkins was the first Irish national to be elected as a member of the EMBO Organization.
[4] Atkins is also an honorary Professor of Genetics at his alma mater Trinity College, Dublin.
[10][11][12] His research activities include a search for modern protein-free RNA-based life forms.
[13] In 2013 John Atkins organized installation of Charles Jencks sculpture ?What is Life?