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Andrew Cohen, the Editor of Horizon, has been appointed Head of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's award-winning Science Unit.

Andrew has been running Horizon since 2005 and has been responsible for overseeing the rebranding and editorial reinvigoration of the strand.

In his new role he will head up London Factual's science team and will be spearheading the creation of a new virtual Academy of Science.

The specialist science team is responsible for a wide range of high-profile science content, from Ö÷²¥´óÐã One's Bang Goes The Theory, which is returning in the New Year for a second series, to Seven Wonders Of The Solar System, due to be shown on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Two next year.

John Lynch, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Vision Productions' current Head of Science, is handing over the leadership of the Science Unit to Andrew Cohen before leaving the corporation next year.

John Lynch's long Ö÷²¥´óÐã career at the cutting edge of science television – both in the UK and in the international market – will reach a high watermark with his completion of a landmark series on the history of science, intended as a centrepiece of Ö÷²¥´óÐã Two's science output in 2010.

John Lynch said: "I have been privileged to have led a group of the most talented specialist production teams in the world, but I feel that this is the right time for me to hand over the reins.

"I am delighted to be passing the leadership of a revitalised unit over to Andrew, who has a clear, strategic vision for its future."

Jana Bennett, Director of Ö÷²¥´óÐã Vision, said: "I would like to pay tribute to John Lynch's excellent leadership of science programme-making at the Ö÷²¥´óÐã and thank him for his unwavering commitment to furthering the public understanding of science.

"John is also a brilliant film-maker who has been involved in a number of groundbreaking productions, from Fermat's Last Theorem, The Planets and Walking With Dinosaurs to Supervolcano and Earth: The Power Of The Planet.

"I'm very sorry to see him go but delighted that someone as talented as Andrew Cohen is replacing him.

"Andrew Cohen's editorship of Horizon has been marked by his passion for science and his innovative approach to communicating it and I'm sure the unit will continue to thrive under his leadership."

Andrew Cohen will be leading the development of an online Academy of Science which aims to bring together 100 of the UK's top cutting-edge scientists to work with the Ö÷²¥´óÐã on shaping forthcoming projects.

The academy is intended to be a unique partnership with some of Britain's biggest science institutions and to become a forum for furthering science communication in the UK.

Andrew Cohen said: "It is a privilege to be taking on this role and to be given the chance to build on John's outstanding leadership.

"I'm looking forward to working with a highly talented and experienced team of senior executives and one of the most creative and original production teams anywhere in the world at what is an incredibly exciting time for science."

As well as editing Horizon, Andrew has executive produced a wide range of output across the channels including Make Me... on Ö÷²¥´óÐã One, Professor Regan's Ö÷²¥´óÐã Two series and Big Bang Night on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Four.

Andrew started his career at the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Science Unit, 14 years ago. During his time there he has worked on a wide range of output from Tomorrow's World and Horizon to landmark series including Brain Story, Edge Of Life and How To Build A Human.

EDA