Increasingly governments, and indeed university councils, expect academics to engage more comprehensively with the private sector in research. The logic behind this encouragement is overwhelming. In countries such as New Zealand, it is increasingly rare to find a significant group… Read More »A modern ‘two cultures’?
[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Panels_Widgets_PostLoop”][/siteorigin_widget] Welcome to the Centre for Science in Policy, Diplomacy and Society (SciPoDS), a Research Centre and think-tank hosted within the Public Policy Institute of the University of Auckland. Positioned at the nexus of science and public policy, SciPoDS… Read More »From global to local: risks, science and technology
In my recent discussion paper Which science to fund: time to review peer review? I discussed some of the challenges facing science systems. As I have considered elsewhere, there are clearly some differences between big and small science systems –… Read More »Research should be a clever and risky business
One phrase has stuck in my mind after the Small Advanced Nations meeting in Auckland last month: “spectacular mediocrity”. This phrase was used by one of my counterparts to describe the outcome of poorly constructed or operated contestable funding systems.… Read More »Avoiding spectacular mediocrity
The term ‘social license’ with respect to the application of science and technology received prominence last week in the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s interim report on hydraulic fracking. Some writings on the position of science in society have used… Read More »Reflections on the social license for science and technology
Two weeks ago in Auckland I co-chaired a meeting of advisors on science and economic policy from a number of small advanced countries. A feature of the more successful small advanced economies has been their sustained public investment in research… Read More »We are challenged to find the challenges: a window of opportunity
A recent commentary published in Science (Rebuilding public trust in science for policy making), while focused on the Japanese science-policy nexus in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, makes some very important points. To quote the authors, “A more robust… Read More »The science–policy nexus
As I have repeatedly stated, policy formation is properly based on a variety of inputs. The distinctive role of science is to provide the base knowledge (and limits of knowledge) with which the other dimensions are integrated during policy formation.… Read More »Science, values and policy
Rarely has New Zealand science had a week like last week, and one can only hope that it is a portent for the future. Government made a number of announcements regarding the science and innovation system in the launch of… Read More »That was the week that was
As mentioned in my previous post, I recently spoke at the Euroscience Open Forum in Dublin. This is the European equivalent of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting, but is only held every second year. For… Read More »From Dublin to Dakar