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The Center for Science and Technology Policy
Research was initiated within CIRES at the University
of Colorado-Boulder in the summer of 2001 as a contribution
to both the CIRES theme "promoting science
in service to society" and the University's vision of
establishing research and outreach across traditional
academic boundaries. Our long-term vision is to
become a center of excellence in the research community
and a national and international leader in
research, teaching, and outreach in science and technology
policy research.
Research
The Center's research is highly integrated with the
ongoing activities of CIRES, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, the University, and the
broader science and technology community. Each of
these areas is described below:
- Science policy. The traditional scholarly interest in
science policy has for years been captured by the
phrases "science for policy" and "policy for science."
- The Center will explore how scientific information is
linked to decision making and will also examine governance
of the scientific enterprise with topics that
range from broad federal government resource allocation
issues to the practice of peer review.
- Technology policy. Technology policy refers to the
interrelationship of government, academia, and the
private sector, and their shared goal of enhancing economic
vitality through the transfer of knowledge to
useful products and processes. Technology policy
research seeks to understand these relationships and
to develop, evaluate, and critique them.
- Technology assessment. Technology assessment
seeks to integrate knowledge of technological systems
with their broader social and policy context as a contribution
to the governance of science and technology.
Decisions about how to allocate finite (and frequently
scarce) resources can be made more effectively when
decision makers consider integrated understandings
of technology in society.
Education
In partnership with University departments in the
social and physical sciences, law, humanities, engineering,
and other areas, the Center seeks to develop a
pedagogical presence at both undergraduate and
graduate levels. Courses that the Center has or may
participate in include focused seminars in policy
research and methodology, cross-disciplinary courses
in science policy, and topical courses designed to
focus on the specific science and technology policy
research issues of particular relevance to certain disciplines.
The Center is developing internship programs
that involve partners in both public and private settings,
as well as a visitor program that brings people
from those settings into the University environment.
The Center will pay particular attention to issues of
diversity - both in traditional and non-traditional
terms - in its activities as it seeks to bring together
people and communities in ways that cross traditional
boundaries.
Outreach
The Center emphasizes outreach to the academic community
and to private and public decision makers. It
works closely with CIRES and University public outreach
and education efforts. The Center seeks to make
extensive use of the WWW in its outreach and community-
building efforts.
In January 2002 the Center initiated a newsletter - called
Ogmius -- that includes
an exchange among leading voices in the science and
technology policy community, updates on Center
projects and websites, recent Center publications, web
and media resources, information about educational
and other science and technology policy opportunities
and meetings, and other news and information of
interest to the community. It sponsors several e-mail
list-servs and leads a monthly forum for graduate students
and early career scientists interested in science
and technology policy that features a guest speaker.
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CIRES Research Theme
Integrating Activities
Project Personnel
Many
Funding Source(s)
University of Colorado, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Others
Project Sites
CIRES' Center for Science and Technology Policy Research (sciencepolicy.colorado.edu
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