Science Policy Research Unit

Last updated

Science Policy Research Unit
SPRU.JPG
Address
Science Policy Research Unit
Jubilee Building, Falmer campus


United Kingdom
Information
TypePublic
Established1966;58 years ago (1966)
Founder Christopher Freeman
Director Jeremy Kent Hall
Staff70
Publication Research Policy
FocusPolicy, Management
Former NameScience Policy Research Unit
FunctionsResearch, Teaching, Consultancy
Website https://www.sussex.ac.uk/spru/

The Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) is a research centre based at the University of Sussex in Falmer, near Brighton, United Kingdom. Its research focuses on science policy and innovation. SPRU offers MSc courses and PhD research degrees. In 2018, SPRU ranked 3rd in the world and 1st in the UK for top science and technology think tanks on the Global Go To Think Tank Index Report. [1]

Contents

SPRU has more than 60 faculty members, 150 MScs and 50 doctoral students.

Organization

The Science Policy Research Unit is located within the University of Sussex Business School in Brighton, United Kingdom. SPRU's current[ as of? ] director is Professor Jeremy Hall, formerly director of the Centre for Social Innovation Management at Surrey Business School and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Engineering and Technology Management. He took over as professor from Johan Schot in September 2019.

The Jubilee Building, where SPRU is currently based, 2017 Jubilee Building, University of Sussex.jpg
The Jubilee Building, where SPRU is currently based, 2017

SPRU's specialist research centres include:

History

SPRU was founded in 1966 by Christopher Freeman. [2] Since its foundation, SPRU has had notable scholars among its faculty, including Daniele Archibugi, Giovanni Dosi, Marie Jahoda, Carlota Perez, Keith Pavitt, Mary Kaldor, Richard R. Nelson, Giorgio Sirilli and Luc Soete.

Current faculty members include Benjamin Sovacool; Andy Stirling; Paul Nightingale, director of strategy and operations for the Economic & Social Research Council; Erik Millstone; and Ben Martin, editor of Research Policy and Associate Fellow of Cambridge's Centre for Science and Policy.

Teachings

SPRU currently offers six Master's courses, two of which are available online. Additionally, SPRU offers two PhD degrees in Science and Technology Policy Studies and Technology and Innovation Management.

Harvard Sussex Program

The Harvard Sussex Program (HSP) is a collaborative effort on chemical biological weapons disarmament between Harvard University and SPRU at the University of Sussex. It was formed by Matthew Meselson and Julian Perry Robinson to provide research, training, seminars, and information on chemical biological warfare and its disarmament. In 2010, Sussex faculty member Caitriona McLeish was appointed co-director of the HSP.

The program has an archival collection of CBW-related documents at the Sussex Harvard Information Bank (SHIB).

HSP is an academic non-governmental organization (NGO) that has influenced[ how? ] policy creation from within the United States and Great Britain on the formation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and reviews of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Sussex</span> University in Brighton and Hove, UK

The University of Sussex is a public research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the South Downs National Park, and provides convenient access to central Brighton 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) away. The university received its royal charter in August 1961, the first of the plate glass university generation.

Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Historically, arms control may apply to melee weapons before the invention of firearm. Arms control is typically exercised through the use of diplomacy which seeks to impose such limitations upon consenting participants through international treaties and agreements, although it may also comprise efforts by a nation or group of nations to enforce limitations upon a non-consenting country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weapon of mass destruction</span> Weapon that can kill many people or cause great damage

A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a biological, chemical, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great damage to artificial structures, natural structures, or the biosphere. The scope and usage of the term has evolved and been disputed, often signifying more politically than technically. Originally coined in reference to aerial bombing with chemical explosives during World War II, it has later come to refer to large-scale weaponry of warfare-related technologies, such as biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear warfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federation of American Scientists</span> American think tank

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is an American nonprofit global policy think tank with the stated intent of using science and scientific analysis to attempt to make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1946 by scientists, including some who worked on the Manhattan Project, to develop the first atomic bombs. The Federation of American Scientists states that it aims to reduce the amount of nuclear weapons that are in use, and prevent nuclear and radiological terrorism. It says it aims to present high standards for nuclear energy's safety and security, illuminate government secrecy practices, as well as track and eliminate the global illicit trade of conventional, nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biological Weapons Convention</span> 1975 treaty that comprehensively bans biological weapons

The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), or Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), is a disarmament treaty that effectively bans biological and toxin weapons by prohibiting their development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use. The treaty's full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs</span> International organization

The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs is an international organization that brings together scholars and public figures to work toward reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats. It was founded in 1957 by Joseph Rotblat and Bertrand Russell in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada, following the release of the Russell–Einstein Manifesto in 1955.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tallinn University of Technology</span> University in Tallinn, Estonia

Established in 1918, Tallinn University of Technology is the only technical university in Estonia. TalTech, in the capital city of Tallinn, is a university for engineering, business, public administration and maritime affairs. TalTech has colleges in Tartu and Kohtla-Järve. Despite the similar names, Tallinn University and Tallinn University of Technology are separate institutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calestous Juma</span> Kenyan academic

Calestous Juma was a Kenyan scientist and academic, specializing in sustainable development. He was named one of the most influential 100 Africans in 2012, 2013 and 2014 by the New African magazine. He was Professor of the Practice of International Development and Faculty Chair of the Innovation for Economic Development Executive Program at Harvard Kennedy School. Juma was Director of the School's Science, Technology and Globalization Project at Harvard Kennedy School as well as the Agricultural Innovation in Africa Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Christopher Freeman was a British economist, recognised as one of the founders of the post-war school of Innovation Studies. He played a lead role in the development of the neo-Schumpeterian tradition focusing on the crucial role of innovation for economic development and of scientific and technological activities for well-being.

The Sussex Manifesto was a report on science and technology for development written at the request of the United Nations and published in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Gann</span>

David Michael Gann CBE is a British academic administrator and civil engineer. He is Vice-President (Innovation) at Imperial College London and a member of the College's Executive Board. His academic research spans strategy, management science and systems engineering. He is Vice-Chair at Villars Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Pavitt</span> British economist (1937–2002)

Keith Pavitt was an English scholar in the field of Science and Technology Policy and Innovation Management. He was professor of Science and Technology Policy at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) of the University of Sussex from 1984 to his death.

The University of Auckland Faculty of Science is one of eight faculties and schools that make up the University of Auckland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balsillie School of International Affairs</span> International affairs school in Waterloo, Canada

The Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) is a centre for advanced research and teaching on global governance and international public policy, located in Waterloo, Ontario. As one of the largest social sciences initiatives in Canada, the school is a collaborative partnership between the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, and the Centre for International Governance Innovation. The BSIA is an affiliate member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs, a group of schools that educate leaders in international affairs. The BSIA is housed in the north and west wings of the CIGI Campus. Admission to BSIA is highly selective.

Thomas Graham Jr. is a former senior U.S. diplomat. Graham was involved in the negotiation of every single international arms control and non-proliferation agreement from 1970 to 1997. This includes the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties, the Anti-ballistic missile (ABM) Treaty, Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) Treaty, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT), Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). In 1993, Ambassador Graham served as acting director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) from January to November, 1993 and Acting Deputy Director from November, 1993 to July, 1994. From 1994 through 1997, he was president Bill Clinton's special representative for Arms Control, Non-Proliferation, and Disarmament. Graham successfully led the U.S. government efforts to achieve the permanent extension of the NPT in 1995. Graham also served for 15 years as the general counsel of ACDA. Throughout his career, Thomas Graham has worked with six U.S. Presidents including Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. Ambassador Graham worked on the negotiation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention and managed the Senate approval of the ratification of the Geneva Protocol banning the use of chemical and biological weapons in war, as well as the Biological Weapons Convention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zakri Abdul Hamid</span> Malaysian academic

Tan Sri Zakri bin Abdul Hamid has had a distinguished career in science as a researcher, educator, administrator and diplomat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London</span>

The Department of Chemistry is responsible for chemistry teaching and research at Imperial College London. The department is one of the largest in the UK with around 63 academic staff, 10 teaching fellows, 95 postdoctoral research scientists and research fellows and 1150 students, including 240 PhD students,150 MRes students and around 750 students studying undergraduate courses. This community is further supported by over 45 support and administrative staff. The department is based across two sites.

Johannes Willem "Johan" Schot is a Dutch historian working in the field of science and technology policy. A historian of technology and an expert in sustainability transitions, Johan Schot is Professor of Global Comparative History at the Centre for Global Challenges, Utrecht University. He is the Academic Director of the Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium (TIPC) and former Director of the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex. He was elected to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in 2009. He is the Principal Investigator of the Deep Transitions Lab.

Arie Jacobus Johannes "Jack" Ooms was a Dutch chemist, diplomat and chemical weapons researcher. As head of Dutch chemical defence research, Ooms worked for 23 years for the eradication of chemical warfare, which he believed could best be achieved by a combination of effective chemical protection and international chemical arms control and a permanent, multilateral ban on chemical weapons, as implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Julian Perry Robinson was a British chemist and peace researcher.

References

  1. James G. McGann. "2018 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report".
  2. Johan Schot (24 October 2014). "Transforming innovation policy". The Guardian . Retrieved 15 December 2017.