MPhys Physics

Why are the findings of some scientific studies suppressed by companies? Who should make decisions about how to tackle a new infectious disease like Covid-19, or about the safety of a new technology like self-driving cars? Why do nations choose to spend such large sums of money on fundamental science such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN?

Science and technology have become central to the policies and to the self-image of modern advanced economies such as the UK and USA, while less developed countries seek to mobilise S&T to meet their own needs. This unit explores how and why this has become the case and what the implications are for our society, our polity, our economy and for the - still growing and increasingly globalised - S&T enterprise itself. The Covid-19 crisis and responses to it illustrate how crucial these relationships are.

The issues explored in this course unit are critical to citizenship in a modern science and technology based democracy, yet rarely surface in any rigorous way in mainstream undergraduate science or engineering education. At the same time non-scientists or engineers studying social science or humanities subjects are seldom asked to apply insights from their disciplines to the place of science and technology in modern society.

This online unit, delivered via Blackboard, is made up of modules that are released at weekly intervals. Modules include video, audio, textual and interactive elements.

UCIL units are designed to be accessible to undergraduate students from all disciplines.

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We will explore key science and technology policy issues and look at wider challenges, such as efforts to improve public engagement in decisions about science and technology, initiatives to encourage more responsible research and innovation, and debates about the apparent rise in fraud and misconduct in science and concerns on the part of some scientists that many published scientific findings may be false.

On successful completion of this course unit, students from an S&T or humanities background will have demonstrated a raised awareness of the crucial place of science and technology in modern society and of the associated governance challenges. These challenges are fundamental not only to public policy makers but also to private firms and non-profit organisations.

• On successful completion of the unit you will be able to:

   

• Identify how the State became involved in funding science, and the changing rationales and debates used to justify that funding
• Analyse the complexities of the 21st Century scientific enterprise, and its globally distributed nature
• Recognise the specificities of science policy and the key challenges that stem from these features
• Discuss the wider role played by science in public policy and regulation, and associated political, economic and ethical debates
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This is an online course unit, delivered via Blackboard. Students follow approximately 22 hours of guided online study divided into 11 weekly modules. There will also be three optional one-hour drop-in ‘surgeries’ at different points in the semester.

• Recognise, critically evaluate and deploy as appropriate relevant theories and concepts;
• Understand the role of interests and ideologies in shaping the positions taken by actors in relation to public policy debates about S&T;
• Undertake research reflexively and responsibly;
• Engage critically with the research of others, as well as respectfully and constructively;
• See the 'bigger' picture of contemporary S&T and understand how we have come to this position.

• Identify and interrogate the positions taken by actors in debates and discourses around science policy, understanding the interests and motivations that come to play;
• Show some practical appreciation of how to engage with policy processes;
• Communicate clearly about science and society issues with both a scholarly and a policy/public audience;

• Oral and written communication skills for specialist and generalist audiences;
• Ability to analyse and synthesise theoretical and practical information.

Summative feedback is provided on a weekly basis through 10 end of module assessments.

Formative feedback is available through the optional drop-in surgeries.

Formative feedback is available on a plan/outline of your assignments on request.

Summative feedback is provided on your written assignments.

This unit provides insights that will be helpful for future careers in research management, public policy, science communication/public engagement, and science diplomacy. As part of the assessment for this unit, all students will develop either a blog post or policy brief. Non-academic analytical writing is a key professional communication skill. Some students use their post/brief as part of a portfolio of their work.