Science in Public Research Network: announcement and calls

We're very pleased to announce the formal launch and constitution of the Science in Public research network at what will be our 10th annual conference next week (13-15th July) at the University of Kent at Canterbury.

Science in Public (https://scienceinpublic.org/) provides a central point of contact  for academics and professionals interested in research about science, technology and medicine in the public domain. This includes research on the relationships between science, technology, medicine and society; public opinion and engagement; media and culture; and the broader public sphere.  SiP fosters cross-disciplinary debate across the many disciplines addressing these topics, including science communication and education; science and technology studies; history of science; development, policy, media and cultural studies; humanities, literature and the arts.   

Because these fields are relatively ‘young’, we have a strong presence from early-career researchers: however, we encourage participation from academics at all stages of their career.  Similarly, while the Network is based in the UK, we welcome involvement from and interchange with scholars and other networks anywhere in the world.

Since 2006, SiP has organised an annual conference (known until 2012 as the ‘Science and the Public’ conference) to facilitate these conversations. Each year the conference is run by a local organising team: a key objective of SiP is to provide long term continuity, organisational support and co-ordination between each year's local teams.

The SiP Committee would also like to issue two Calls:

i) Expressions of interest in hosting the annual conference for 2017, 2018 and beyond. While the SiP conference is relatively small, it provides a unique and lively meeting space for the above fields. We also encourage local organisers to tailor the conference theme to their own interests, as seen in this year's theme of 'Past, Present and Future'.

ii) We would also like to invite proposals from postgraduate scholars and SiP professionals interested in joining the SiP Committee. 

If you are interested in either of the above, please contact me directly, or join us at our inaugural Annual Meeting, to be held at 12.30 pm on the 15th July, at the University of Kent, Canterbury.