ESRC Society Today

This Programme ended in December 2007

ESRC's Science in Society Programme was a £5.2 million Research Programme which aimed to facilitate research into the rapidly changing relations between science (including engineering and technology) and wider society. In so doing, it sought to place British social science at the heart of international debates and practical interventions concerning the public understanding of science, science and technology policy, science studies, and the nature of citizenship and expertise within contemporary society.

The programme was timely. The role of science in governance and the role of non-scientists in the governance of science were both increasingly subject to question. The report of a recent House of Lords Committee described these relationships as being in crisis. Others demur, but almost all participants and informed observers recognised the need for a serious examination and renegotiation of the relationship between science and the other institutions of modern society.

Social science has a unique opportunity and responsibility to contribute to this process through research that engages major public, private, and voluntary sector stakeholders with practising scientists and institutions. 

A full summary of those projects that were awarded funding can be found on the programme website.

Further information

contact:  Prof Steve Rayner, University of Oxford
email: steve.rayner@sbs.ox.ac.uk
tel: + 44 (0)1865 288938
web: http://www.sci-soc.net/SciSoc/

Phase 3 Awards

• Regulatory practices and challenges of the African crop biotechnology sector
  Dr Joanna Chataway Open University 
  
• Public perceptions of gamete donation in British South Asian communities
  Dr Lorraine Culley De Montfort University 
  
• Spinning Science: the nanotech industry and financial news  
  Ms Mary Ebeling University of Surrey 
  
• Work Roles and careers of academic scientists in University-Industry collaboration
  Prof Alice Lam Brunel University 
  
• Gender theories and risk perception: a secondary analysis 
  Prof Nick Pidgeon University of East Anglia 
  
• What does social change mean in the context of Engineering education?
  Dr Jane Pritchard University of Glasgow 
  
• Labour markets and knowledge flows in the Chinese national system of innovation
  Dr Mathias Ramirez Brunel University 
  
• The World Wide Web of science: emerging global sources of expertise
  Dr Ralph Schroeder University of Oxford
  
• Asbestos diseases: scientific definitions and gendered identities 
  Dr Linda Waldman Institute of Development Studies
  
• Databases, naturalists and the global biodiversity convention
  Ms Claire Waterton Lancaster University 
  
• Issues involved in the diffusion of knowledge through migration of scientific labour
  Prof David Wield Open University 
  
• The impact of gender innovation on regional technology, economy and society
  Prof Pooran Wynarczyck University of Newcastle