About
The Priority Group
The Science, Technology and Society (STS) Research Priority Group is a cross-Faculty organisation, composed of scholars from the social sciences, arts and natural sciences with reputations for high-quality, interdisciplinary research and the capability to attract significant external research funding.
The Priority Group meet regularly to discuss ways to stimulate new research exploring the intersection between science and society. The Priority Group fund novel research at the University (see grants), acts as a forum to discuss and plan new research ventures (see case studies) and run various events and conferences (see multimedia).
Strategic vision
The Priority Group aims to:
- Position the University as a leading international centre of science and technology studies
- Consolidate current and establish future interdisciplinary research projects
- Establish a programme of development, events and outreach work to foster enhanced partnerships and intra-University collaboration
- Promote innovation and knowledge transfer
Research
Over the last five years, Priority Group members have secured funding for cutting-edge research projects on topics such as, the framing of climate change, new concepts of human nature, responsible innovation, media representations of emerging technologies, 'scientific citizenship' and whether and how to 'make science public'.
The Priority Group reserves a small fund each year for seedcorn research projects and capacity building at the University.
Interdisciplinarity and Public Engagement
To inform decision-making within the Priority Group and University, Dr. Cornelia Lawson has been appointed as a research fellow for public engagement and interdisciplinarity. In this role, she has surveyed relevant activities at the University, organised workshops to foster learning among those practicing public engagement and supports our ongoing collaboration with Nottingham Catalyst.