Richard C. Jennings

A Collaboratively-Derived Science-Policy Research Agenda

The need for policy makers to understand science and for scientists to understand policy processes is widely recognised. However, the science-policy relationship is sometimes difficult and occasionally dysfunctional; it is also increasingly visible, because it must deal with contentious issues, or itself becomes a matter of public controversy, or both. We suggest that identifying key unanswered questions on the relationship between science and policy will catalyse and focus research in this field. To identify these questions, a collaborative procedure was employed with 52 participants selected to cover a wide range of experience in both science and policy, including people from government, non-governmental organisations, academia and industry. These participants consulted with colleagues and submitted 239 questions. An initial round of voting was followed by a workshop in which 40 of the most important questions were identified by further discussion and voting. The resulting list includes questions about the effectiveness of science-based decision-making structures; the nature and legitimacy of expertise; the consequences of changes such as increasing transparency; choices among different sources of evidence; the implications of new means of characterising and representing uncertainties; and ways in which policy and political processes affect what counts as authoritative evidence. We expect this exercise to identify important theoretical questions and to help improve the mutual understanding and effectiveness of those working at the interface of science and policy.

Ethical assessment of new technologies: a meta‐methodology

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to set out a structured meta‐methodology, named DIODE, for the ethical assessment of new and emerging technologies. DIODE has been designed by a mixture of academics, governmental people and commercial practitioners. It is designed to help diverse organisations and individuals conduct ethical assessments of new and emerging technologies.Design/methodology/approach – A framework discussion paper was developed for consultation to ensure that DIODE addresses fundamental ethical concerns, has appropriate and manageable scope and is comprehensive in its ethical compass. The resulting DIODE meta‐methodology uses flowcharts and templates, encompassing the use of diverse tools and techniques.Findings – There are two different angles for the ethical assessment of new technologies; a strategic/abstract angle and a project/application specific angle. DIODE includes two channels to accommodate this distinction. Early stage testing yielded positive feedback and mostly favourable ...

Zande Logic and Western Logic

In this paper I discuss logic from a naturalist point of view, characterizing it as those shared patterns of thought which are socially selected from among the various patterns of thought to which we are naturally inclined. Drawing on Evans-Pritchards anthropology. I discuss a particular example of Zande thought. I argue that Evans-Pritchards and Timm Tripletts analyses of this example make the mistake of applying Western logic to Zande beliefs and thus find a contradiction. I argue that from the naturalistic point of view. Zande logic is different from Western logic and that there is no contradiction in Zande thought.

Successful Science Communication: Telling It Like It Is

Lets read! We will often find out this sentence everywhere. When still being a kid, mom used to order us to always read, so did the teacher. Some books are fully read in a week and we need the obligation to support reading. What about now? Do you still love reading? Is reading only for you who have obligation? Absolutely not! We here offer you a new book enPDFd successful science communication telling it like it is to read.

Successful agricultural innovation in emerging economies : new genetic technologies for global food production

List of contributors Part I. The Issues of Plant Science and Food Security: Introduction Professor Sir David Baulcombe FRS 1. Reaping the benefits of plant science for food security Professor Sir David Baulcombe FRS 2. Global population growth, food security and food and farming for the future Professor Jim Dunwell 3. New genetic crops in a global context Professor Sir Gordon Conway FRS and Katy Wilson 4. The economic and environmental impact of first generation biotech crops Graham Brookes 5. The interface of plant genome science, plant breeding and conservation of genetic resources Professor Wayne Powell and Dr Tina Barsby 6. Using molecular breeding to improve orphan crops for emerging economies Professor Ian Graham Part II. New Genetics Crops across the Emerging World: Introduction Professor Chris Leaver FRS 7. Status of crop biotechnology and biosafety in Africa Professor Diran Makinde 8. Transforming agriculture in Argentina: the role of genetically modified (GM) crops Eduardo J. Trigo and Eugenio J. Cap 9. China - earlier experiences and for the future Professor Lu Bao-rong 10. Genetically engineered crops would ensure food security in India Professor Kameswara Rao 11. Plant genetic improvement and sustainable agriculture Professor Pamela Ronald 12. Nutritional enhancement by biofortification of staple crops Dr Adrian Dubock 13. Transforming the cowpea, an African orphan staple crop grown predominantly by women Dr T. J. Higgins, Professor Larry Murdock and Professor Idah Sithole-Niang 14. Transgenic marine algae for aquaculture: a coupled solution for protein sufficiency Professor Jonathan Gressel Part III. Lessons Learned about Implementing New Genetics Crops in Policy: Introduction Professor Sir Brian Heap CBE FRS 15. Enabling factors for an innovation-ready agricultural landscape in African countries Samuel Burckhardt, Dr Claudia Canales Holzeis, Julian Gray and Professor Sir Brian Heap CBE FRS 16. Regulatory systems and agricultural biotechnology Mark Cantley and Drew L. Kershen 17. Biotechnology research for innovation and sustainability in agriculture in the European Union Alfredo Aguilar, Danuta Cichocka, Jens Hogel, Piero Venturi and Ioannis Economidis 18. Europe, GM crops and food - understanding the past, looking to the future Martin Porter 19. US international engagement in agricultural research and trade Dr Jack A. Bobo and Dr Roger Beachy Part IV. Social, Legal, Ethical and Political Issues: Introduction Dr David Bennett 20. Have GM crops and food a future in Europe? Professor George Gaskell and Dr Sally Stares 21. Dealing with challenges and societal expectations - the industrys response Nathalie Moll and Carel du Marchie Sarvaas 22. Media and GM: a journalists challenge Tim Radford 23. The environmental movements earlier and current viewpoints and positions Piet Schenkelaars 24. Social and ethical issues raised by NGOs and how they can be understood Dr Richard Jennings 25. Advancing the cause in emerging economies Professor Klaus Ammann Index.

Alternative mathematics and the strong programme: Reply to Triplett

Timm Triplett argues (Inquiry 29 [1986], no. 4) that David Bloor does not succeed in justifying a relativistic interpretation of mathematics. It is objected that Triplett has focused his attention on the wrong chapter of Bloors Knowledge and Social Imagery, and that the examples which Triplett demands Bloor provide to make the case do appear in the subsequent chapter. Moreover, Bloor has anticipated and refuted Tripletts brief criticism of the examples that make Bloors case for the relativism of mathematics. Finally, Tripletts own example of a basic mathematical truth can be shown to be socially relative.

Cementing links between industry and the university.

University research is driven not by market–led considerations, but by the search for new knowledge. In this light, how can academic–industry alliances be fostered effectively?

Successful Science Communication

Lets read! We will often find out this sentence everywhere. When still being a kid, mom used to order us to always read, so did the teacher. Some books are fully read in a week and we need the obligation to support reading. What about now? Do you still love reading? Is reading only for you who have obligation? Absolutely not! We here offer you a new book enPDFd successful science communication telling it like it is to read.

From Science to Storytelling

At the very end of a winding corridor on the 19th floor of Beth Israel Hospital in downtown Manhattan is a nondescript door. The dull gold plaque on the wall next to it says in bold typeface: Donna Mildvan, MD, Chief of Infectious Diseases. As I nervously knocked on the door as a 23-year-old student journalist, I was greeted by a perfectly coiffed, petite 70-year-old lady with a big handshake and an unexpected belly laugh. From her first patient in July 1980, a 33-year-old gay German chef who went blind before he died of raging diarrhea, to the hundreds who swiftly followed him, Dr Mildvan’s 40-year career was shaped by a single disease. She had been witness to the birth of a terrifying new plague called AIDS that hit New York City in the summer of 1980. At first, she had identified clusters of gay patients with similar symptoms and labelled this a new disease, and then tirelessly tested novel life-saving treatments for her patients. She figured out that unexplained swollen lymph glands were early stages of fatal AIDS and described these findings in one of the first Center for Disease Control reports of the new disease. When I went in to see her, she was still running clinical drug trials at her clinic in Beth Israel Hospital, 30 years after she collaborated on connecting AIDS to the HIV microbe. ‘I have watched this apocalypse coming and growing,’ she told me, ‘It’s entire evolution from beginning to now . . . it’s been an extraordinary trip.’ HIV was particularly special to me because I had studied it as an immunology graduate student at the University of Oxford. For my

Theory and practice in science communication

This book consists of 17 chapters grouped into five parts with a sixth part offering ‘Further Exploration’ of the topics addressed in the 17 chapters. The chapters are all scholarly and well referenced, and the further explorations in section six offer, for each chapter, additional reading, topics for discussion, and suggested projects that would lead to deeper understanding of the chapter. The chapters are generally informative about science communication (SciCom), some more than others, and the discussion topics and suggested projects in the sixth part provide material for using the book as a text in a course on SciCom.