New Beginnings...
Science and Society At Nottingham

I have been very keen, since taking this post, to take science out of the box, in other words, to see that what we normally call ‘science’ is fully integrated with the entire knowledge base, and so remove the boundaries. I am working closely with social sciences, economists, even arts and humanities where it seems appropriate, right across the board. Sir David King, FRS, Government Chief Scientific Adviser, in evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, February 2006.

Is great science alone sufficient to bring great value to a society?
This question has been asked with increasing urgency in the UK. The experience of GM food crops, where worldclass science could not be translated into useful products because of public opposition has been a sobering experience for the scientific community. Subsequent controversies over areas like stem cell research and nanotechnologies have given a strong impetus to new kinds of research and new policy careers, where scientific understanding is allied to studies in society, law, ethics and culture.

The Institute for Science and Society at the University of Nottingham is a pioneer in this new kind of interdisciplinary partnership. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Colin Campbell, founded the group in 1998 in response to his own experience as a leading policymaker in the regulation of new reproductive technologies. He saw that informed public debate was being hampered by a lack of high-quality empirical evidence from the social  sciences and humanities. Scientists found it hard to understand the social and cultural environment that shaped responses to their work. The social sciences and humanities offered little in return beyond armchair recommendations that were not well-founded in the science they were studying.

“We have to explain the process of research and how it fits into the wider societal, political, economic and cultural context. We have to admit the inherent uncertainty that is part and parcel of research. We must explain how research priorities are set, explain how scientific institutions such as peer review work, explain that levels of evidence differ from discipline to discipline, and explain to researchers the constraints the public places on their work. Only then will science lead to innovation Helga Nowotny, Vice Chair, Scientific Board, European Research Council.”

Under the leadership of Professor Robert Dingwall, the Institute team have built a formidable international reputation for their work on the social, legal, ethical and cultural aspects of innovation and change in society, science, technology and medicine. The group have won over £4.5 million in competitive research funding, mainly from ESRC, EPSRC, Leverhulme Trust, Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health. The Institute is unique in its mixture of staff and students, with about half coming from the natural sciences and about half from the social sciences and humanities. Since 1998, over fifty students from more than ten countries have received Masters and PhD training at the Institute.

The Institute offers two Masters degrees:
The MARM course is intended for students who plan to apply for ESRC awards, while the broader MART programme allows students to received an advanced research training in science and technology studies while writing a dissertation on a topic of their own choice. Many students have used the MART course as a conversion and continued to a PhD on the same theme.

“I’d like to think that in 2010 the Society will be as it was in its pioneering days – a place where science is discussed and promoted because of its intrinsic fascination and ever-increasing impact on our lives. The greatest dangers in the 21st century come not from nature but from humankind collectively through our impact on the world around us, and individually through the misdirection of technology. The Society has a leading role to play in enabling humankind to optimise the benefits of science and confront the ethical challenges and risks, and I am keen to ensure we succeed. Lord Rees of Ludlow. President of the Royal Society, 2005.”

Current students work on projects they have devised for themselves alongside the core staff research programme. Many are looking at issues related to bioscience and biotechnology, from the consequences of lifting donor anonymity from sperm donors through the response of African countries to GM food crops to changing innovation strategies in the UK pharmaceutical industry, and the regulation and commercialisation of new stem cell technologies.

There is a growing body of projects on the social implications of developments in neuroscience. Others are looking at the translation of biological research into medical practice, and at the organizational environment of risk and safety in health care. Newer projects are broadening the agenda across a wider range of sciences, including studies of nanotechnology, social responses to environmental hazards, and new lie detection technologies.

Science and technology studies looks set to become an area of high demand over the next few years as government, industry and NGOs respond to the new agendas of public engagement with science.
 
Graduates should expect to find a wide range of career opportunities, both academic and nonacademic, where they can use their knowledge and skills as ‘bridge people’ to promote dialogue and mutual understanding, reuniting the ‘two cultures’ that have grown so far apart over the last half century.

“It seems strange to me that at one of the UK’s top universities, you have compulsory courses on attracting venture capital and business angels, but nothing on the history of science, the philosophy of science, the social impacts and dilemmas of technology. I’m genuinely surprised by this. What does it say about our value system? What signals does it send to younger scientists? Interview with PhD student in nanosciences by Demos, 2005”