STS news http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-viewer-news/rss UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies is unique. Award-winning teaching and public engagement. We combine history and philosophy of science, science policy and governance, and science communication and engagement. Offering degrees at all levels. Jo E Pearson 2010-07-29T11:35:55Z Conference Success http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_05_20 3rd Year STS Undergraduate Sinan John Richards (pictured) has been accepted as a speaker at the Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society Postgraduate Conference, which will take place at Middlesex University on 15 June. Details of the conference can be found online here: http://www.onlinestore.mdx.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&catid=30&modid=5&prodid=147&deptid=11&prodvarid=0 Sinan will present material from his undergraduate dissertation, "Psychoanalysis in Pain?", which explores the journey of the concept of the unconscious across science and philosophy. Our warmest congratulations to Sinan who worked extremely hard on his dissertation. His efforts are paying off! UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-05-20T15:44:43Z National praise for Agar http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_05_16_Agar Dr Jon Agar has been commended by The British Society for the History of Science  for his book, Science in the Twentieth Century and Beyond (Polity, link ).  UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Joe Cain 2013-05-16T07:31:54Z Vacancy: Research Associate Cold War History http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_05_12_Cold_War_Post_Doc UCL's Department of Science and Technology Studies seeks to appoint a Research Associate in Cold War History. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-05-14T15:14:06Z Mechanisms & Causality Workshop http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_05_13_Mechanisms_Causality On Thursday 30th May UCL STS welcomed Stuart Glennan from Butler University as a visiting academic and held a workshop on Mechanisms and Causality in Philosophy of Science. The event was organised by STS lecturer Phyllis Illari and featured presentations from Stuart Glennan (Butler), John Pemberton (LSE), Toby Field (UCL) as well as STS's  Phyllis Illari and Brendan Clarke. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-05-13T09:28:29Z STS Students on the BBC http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_04_30_students_on_bbc It's been a great week for STSers on the BBC! UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-04-30T08:45:58Z MATERIAL HISTORIES OF SCIENCE http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_04_24_Werret_Talk Simon Werrett spoke at UCL's new Institute of Making on Friday 19 April about "Material Histories of Science". Werrett asked what a new history of material qualities might look like, and explored the history of that essential academic material - red ink! UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-04-25T13:03:00Z Vacancy: Senior Lecturer in Science Communication http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_04_24_Vacancy_Senior_lecturer UCL's Department of Science and Technology Studies seeks to appoint a full time Senior Lecturer in Science Communication. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-04-24T15:33:37Z The Spanish Collaboration http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_04_24_The_Spanish_Connectin On April 4 th 2013, Dr Brian Balmer gave a talk entitled “The Social Dimension of Technology” at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Education and Language, University of La Laguna, Tenerife. The talk was given to staff and students as part of their two day annual research conference and Faculty celebration. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-04-24T08:00:00Z Science and Security Grant http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_04_23_Brians_Grant Brian Balmer is to be the co-investigator on an eighteen month project funded by the ESRC and AHRC as a part of their Science and Security Progamme. The project is entitled The Formulation and Non-formulation of Security Concerns:Preventing the Destructive Application of the Life Sciences. The project involves a number of researchers compiling case studies on how security issues become "non-issues" in policy debate about biological weapons control. Brian will contribute a case study on the history of concerns over genetic engineering. The principal investigator on the project is Professor Brian Rappert at the University of Exeter. Ten projects were funded overall, of which two received AHRC support. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-04-23T15:51:51Z Semi Final Challenge http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_04_15_Semi_Final The STS Department wishes the UCL Team the very best of luck in their University Challenge semi-final. The team, which includes STS undergraduate Simon Dennis as captain, have battled their way through numerous tricky questions to get to the penultimate round. Get ready to cheer them on! UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-04-15T08:46:07Z STS Students Take Action http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_04_03_Action Every year, we run a course called Action for Global Citizenship HPSC2017A/B. The objective is to get our second-year students to engage with the real world in a different way. Rather than coming to lectures and writing essays, this module asks them to plan and carry out an 'action'. This might be an event, a performance, a thing that they make or build. In the spring term term, our class split into two groups. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-04-03T15:34:14Z Responsible Innovation in Europe http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_03_21_RI_in_Europe Jack Stilgoe was recently a member of an expert group advising the European Commission on approaches to responsible research and innovation. The report looks at options for how science policy can encourage greater responsibility for the direction and broad implications of scientific research and innovation. This report has been covered in this week's Research Europe http://www.researchprofessional.com/news/article/1313166/ . In the story, Jack is quoted as saying that “RRI is a new term to describe a set of old concepts… RRI is about getting more from science and innovation, not just stopping certain things that we find troubling.” UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-03-21T14:25:57Z DEUS IN MACHINA http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_03_18_Deus STS Lecturer Simon Werrett spoke in Rome on March 15 on the relations of technology and religion in the early modern period, beginning (appropriately in light of recent events at the Vatican) with an exploration of fireworks staged for the election of a new Pope in Rome in the sixteenth century. The talk was part of a conference examining the role of stage machinery, spectacle and theatre in religious festivals and practices in early modern Europe. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-03-18T09:48:12Z Semi Final Ahoy! http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_03_05_semi_final Congratulations to STS BSc student Simon Dennis and the rest of the UCL University Challenge Team. Yesterday the team beat the University of Manchester in their second quarter final round draw to go through to semi finals. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-03-05T09:38:40Z STS research fellow in MRC Suffrage Science event http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_03_04 STS Research Fellow, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock (MBE) has been mentioned by UCL Provost in his 04 March 2013 newsletter: UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Joe Cain 2013-03-05T07:15:02Z MAPS students praise STS teaching http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_03_03_expert-teaching UCL Natural Sciences programme has released data from Term 1 teaching in modules taken by first year students. STS scores above average, largely due to the efforts of Dr Simon Lock and Dr Brendan Clarke. Well done.  UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Joe Cain 2013-03-03T16:25:30Z BPPA Masterclass Success! http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_02_27_BPPA A team of UCL graduate students including STS PhD Student Steph Ratcliffe have been selected to organise 11th annual masterclass for the British Postgraduate Philosophy Association . The team, which also includes Akosua Bonsu, Emily Crampton from the UCL Philosophy Department will host the event at UCL on 14 and 15th of April 2013. The masterclass will explore issues around Philosophy and Mental Health. More details on the event website . UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-02-27T15:29:09Z Finalists! Speak Up! http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_02_18_NSS Final year students - it's time to have your say about your degree. The National Student Survey (NSS) is now open. This is an opportunity to speak up confidentially in a nationwide poll about universities. The data from the NSS feeds into government statistics about courses and affects how your degree is represented to potential employers and future students. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-02-18T15:00:00Z Blog Winners Announced http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_02_18_Blog_Winners_Announced Last term recently arrived STS lecturer Jack Stilgoe launched a new course ‘Governing emerging technologies’ for UCL 3rd year undergraduates (HPSC3036). As well as the usual essay, the 24 students from STS and across UCL taking the cousre were asked to put together a course blog, in which they would explore issues to do with emerging technologies. Case studies and literatures were discussed in class, but the idea with the blog was that the students would dig into their own examples. Jack asked the creators of the best ones if they would agree to have theirs aired publicly and you can find the results on his blog. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-02-18T09:00:00Z Thinking About Science: Episode 6 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_02_15_Thinking_About_Science Episode 6 of Thinking about Science is now available on soundcloud: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/engage_academics/thinkingaboutscience UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-02-15T15:39:47Z The Genius of Invention http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_02_04_Genius_of_Invention STS History and Philosophy of Science gradaute Charlotte Connelly - who now works for London's Science Museum will be appearing in Episode 3 of the BBC's Genius of Invention Series on Thursday 7th February. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-02-04T11:27:17Z OCEANIC ENTERPRISE http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_01_29 On 25/26 January 2013 Simon Werrett presented a paper at the conference “Oceanic Enterpise: Location, Longitude and Maritime Cultures, 1770-1830” held at the Huntington Library in California. Werrett’s contribution explored the history of navigation techniques in the Russian navy during this period, and the interactions of Russian and British circumnavigators and men of science. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-01-29T10:26:56Z Will The Geek Inherit the Earth? http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_01_23_Will_The_Geek On Monday, UCL Science & Technology Studies held a panel discussion on the question of "Will the geek inherit the earth?" This was prompted by a recent book by Mark Henderson, former Science Editor of the Times and now Head of Communications at the Wellcome Trust. UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-01-23T17:15:53Z Another Win for STS Student! http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_01_22_University_Challenge Congratulations to UCL's University Challenge Team, captained by STS student Simon Dennis for another magnificent win on BBC's University Challenge! The UCL Team are now through to the quarter finals. Woohoo! UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-01-22T11:21:49Z Histories of Scientific Experience http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/sts-publication-news/2013_01_21_Werrett_Hist_Sci On Wednesday January 16, Simon Werrett of UCL STS participated in a symposium held at Merton College in the University of Oxford on the occasion of Professor Lorraine Daston’s election to the Humanitas Visiting Professionship in the History of ideas. The symposium explored the history of the scientific experience in early modern Europe, and included contributions from Prof. Daston (MPI, Berlin), Dr Sachiko Kusukawa (Cambridge) on drawing practices in early modern science and Prof. Martin Mulsow (Erfurt) on the history of numismatics. Dr. Werrett spoke about his current research on the care of material culture in experimental science during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies Jo E Pearson 2013-01-21T12:18:12Z