Science for Policy

The world is more interconnected than ever, and global research is no exception. But when scientists work together across borders, who wins — and who, if anyone, loses? Should policymakers be concerned about 'leakage' of publicly-funded research? How is science advice impacted? And in a global knowledge community, is there any future for old-school concepts like science diplomacy?

Professor Caroline Wagner, author of 'The New Invisible College' and 'The Collaborative Era In Science', joins Toby Wardman of SAPEA to discuss the brave new world of cross-border science, and what, if anything, we can do about it.

Our two-part series focusing on students and early career researchers concludes today with a lively conversation about teaching, learning and scholarship. Dr Leonie Tanczer, the designer of a unique science advice course at University College London, joins two of her former students María Jarquín and Natasha Boyd to discuss how the field is seen through the eyes of students — with a particular focus on improving diversity in the science advice community.

=== Resources mentioned in this episode ===

- UCL blog post on diversity: https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/steapp/2019/06/13/science-advice-diversity/

- McKinsey work on diversity mentioned by Natasha: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-interactive

- EScAPE project: https://escapecovid19.org/ 

Some scientists get involved with policy without giving up their day jobs. Others take their scientific training and move wholesale into the world of policy, taking up roles as advisors, analysts, knowledge brokers or advocates on specific issues.

In the first in a two-part series focusing on students and early-career researchers, Dr Adriana Bankston of the University of California shares her tips and experiences on leaving academia behind and joining the fast-paced world of policy.

Science, and especially social sciences and humanities, have always had a broad range of impacts on society — impacts which are not easily measured using traditional academic indicators. And engagement with policymakers is one of the trickiest areas to pin down: even when we know it's happening, finding ways to measure and evaluate it can be difficult.

In this episode, Professor David Budtz Pedersen of Aalborg University, Copenhagen, talks to Toby Wardman of SAPEA about ways to discover, strengthen and evaluate the impact of science advice in a fragmented landscape.

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Report on the Danish science advice ecosystem: https://bit.ly/3zGfLlR

When it's finished, the European Spallation Source in Sweden and Denmark will be the brightest neutron source in the world, opening up new frontiers for science in a broad range of fields. But building a giant facility like this takes decades of commitment from policymakers and scientists alike. In a political environment dominated by short-term thinking, how do we keep everyone on board to see this kind of project through to reality?

Pia Kinhult, Head of Host States Relations at the ESS and a former leading politician in Sweden, talks to Toby Wardman about keeping things sweet between science and policy at the frontier of world-changing — and expensive — materials science.

• European Spallation Source: https://europeanspallationsource.se/

To coincide with the twentieth birthday of the European Academies' Science Advisory Council, their president Christina Moberg joins Toby Wardman to discuss the role of academies in advising policymakers, communicating with citizens, and contributing to society more generally.

We also discuss the history and role of EASAC, the new challenges of science advice post-COVID, and Nobel prizes.

What happens when your country needs a new science advice system, but all you have is a blank sheet of paper and a mandate to experiment?

The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters set out in 2019 to reinvent science advice with their Sofi project. Two years later, the project is about to become a permanent fixture, and its principal architects Jaakko Kuosmanen and Risto Nieminen talk to Toby Wardman about what worked, what didn't, and how to tell the difference.

How much political appetite is there for science advice to foreign policy — and how much impact does it have? What are the differences between advising ministers and advising diplomats? What does the phrase 'science diplomacy' actually mean?

Jan Marco Müller discusses these questions with Toby Wardman of SAPEA. We also discuss how to develop advice demand as well as supply, the geopolitics of Russia's vaccine policy, and navigating centuries of accumulated jargon in the international relations sphere.

How do the COVID vaccines work? How do we prioritise recipients? What are the major decisions facing policymakers when executing a mass vaccination campaign -- and where can science help to advise them?

George Griffin discusses these questions with Toby Wardman of SAPEA. We also discuss how to get jabs to developing countries, the origins of the anti-vax movement, and whether we should be worried about rare blood clots.

Special thanks to Rúben Castro for technical help in producing this episode.

How is Antarctica governed, and why do scientists play such a key role in running it? What science advice structures exist to advise Antarctic decision-makers, and how do they function? Can the whole science-as-governance system, designed in the 1950s, survive into the 21st century?

Natasha Gardiner discusses these questions with Toby Wardman of SAPEA. We also discuss decision-making deadlock, saving seals, and how to start a new human colony on one of Saturn's moons.

• Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research: https://www.scar.org/policy/science-policy/