In 1989 he was promoted to Head of Department of Environmental Sciences and eventually rose to Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Development).
Ebdon's research interests are in environmental analytical chemistry and his various contributions to our understanding of the behaviour and importance of trace elements in the environment have led to over 250 publications and to several awards.
He was succeeded by Bill Rammell as Vice-Chancellor on 1 September 2012, completing his move to the position of Director of Fair Access to Higher Education.
[1] On 20 February 2012 Ebdon was appointed as Director of Fair Access to Higher Education, the regulator of fair access to higher education in England,[2] despite media criticism[3] and his selection being rejected by the Commons Select Committee tasked with reviewing the recommendation.
Ebdon is a member of the Structure and Bonding College of the EPSRC and has chaired various EPSRC committees and served on many Royal Society of Chemistry, National Environmental Research Committees, Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food and DTI Review Groups.