“Following the science”: How to Give and Receive Scientific Advice in Challenging Times 

Abstract

If you are studying or researching a subject that you think could benefit the world or if you are a citizen who cares about the quality of public decisions, then you have an interest in the subject of scientific advice. From Covid to climate change and badger culling to AI, decades of effort have gone in to improving the many ways in which academics and policymakers can work better together to ensure public policy and regulatory decisions are as well informed as possible.     

There have been successes and – less visibly – disasters avoided. However, the world in which a few respected scientists could speak confidently to a Minister and that Minister could expect voters unquestioningly to accept such evidence has gone, if it ever even existed.  Amongst other trends science advice is affected by populism, misinformation, anxiety about elites, the weakening of the rules-based global order and the unintended consequences of emerging technologies.   

In these challenging times, the value of rigorous evidence from all disciplines – including the social sciences and humanities - is going up, but the means to engage with public reasoning are increasingly various and in flux. For some engagement might mean working at the boundaries between academia and politics, for others it changes the questions to research, and for others again it might mean being a curious and active scrutiniser of the evidence on the issues that matter most to them.   

From the basics of science advice such as how to decide what to say to a Minister under pressure to the role of evidence in public deliberation and the emerging recognition of the importance of multiple forms of knowledge, this talk will ask what comes next and what parts we can all play. 

This lecture is free and open to all. Registration is not required to attend in person.

More information about Dr Claire Craig