UCL STEaPP 2019 – a year in review

The past twelve months has seen a number of exciting developments for STEaPP, both internal and external, and we continue to grow in both size and impact as a department. Over the past year we have been joined by many new colleagues bringing a diverse range of research and practical expertise and welcomed our largest ever MPA cohort. We’ve also launched a new MPA route for the forthcoming year, Sustainable Infrastructures and Public Policy, to tackle the challenges of complex infrastructures – from mitigating climate change to developing clean energy. 

STEaPP also moved into its new home, Shropshire House, alongside our colleagues from UCL Security and Crime Science and The Conversation.

Here are some memorable moments of the year.  

Our people

STEaPP’s strengths and successes are due to the exceptional talent and dedication of our staff and students. This year we have welcomed a number of new appointments for STEaPP staff and had new colleagues join us, these include:

• Sarah Beech joined as Research Project Manager
• Professor Madeline Carr appointed Professor of Global Politics and Cybersecurity
• Dr Penny Carmichael joined as Policy Advisor
• Ruth Dollard appointed Operations Manager (PETRAS)
• Sarah Hardy joined as PETRAS Communications Lead
• Sam King appointed Personal Assistant to Professor Jeremy Watson and Project Administrator (PETRAS)
• Dr Jean-Christophe (JC) Mauduit joined as Lecturer in Science Diplomacy
• Laura Pullen appointed Research Manager
• Alan Seatwo appointed Senior Teaching Fellow
• Dr Ine Steenmans appointed Lecturer in Futures, Analysis and Policy
• Dr Chris Tyler was appointed Director of Research and Policy
• Catherine Wheller joined as PETRAS Communications and Marketing Officer
• Ayden Wilson appointed Acting Department Manager

Many members of our department have won awards and recognition this year, some highlights include: 

• Dr Irina Brass was awarded the BSI Standards Makers Award for Education about Standardisation by the UK's national standards body - the British Standards Institution (BSI) in November
• Professor Madeline Carr was appointed to the World Economic Forum IoT Council
• Professor Jeremy Watson CBE FREng was elected to the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Trustee Board
• Dr Sarah-Louise Quinnell gained Chartered Psychologist status with the British Psychological Society and was commended on her work teaching Psychological concepts to non-psychologists
• Professor Joanna Chataway has been invited by Patrick Vallance, the Government Chief Scientific Advisor to join the cross government Areas of Research Interest (ARI) Oversight Board

Our research

Research at STEaPP brings together academic, governmental, civil society and industry partners to deliver innovative solutions to the biggest challenges facing our societies. 

This year saw the launch of the PETRAS (Privacy, Ethics, Trust, Reliability, Acceptability and Security) National Centre of Excellence for IoT Systems Cybersecurity, led by Professor Jeremy Watson. The Centre focuses on the opportunities and threats that arise when Edge computing is deployed more widely in the economy and society and marks the second phase of the UKRI funded PETRAS programme.

Professor Yacob Mulugetta has continued his work with the United Nations, leading the development of a key chapter in the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) annual Emissions Gap Report on the potential of the energy transition - particularly in the power, transport and buildings sectors, to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. He was also involved in the development of the landmark report, United in Science, for the UN Climate Action Summit.

The year also saw the launch of the Women4Climate report on Gender Inclusive Climate Action in Cities which was co-ordinated by Dr Ellie Cosgrave and Tiffany Lam. The report provided invaluable insights to how the effects of climate change, and the responses of climate action are experienced by women in cities. Using case studies from around the world, it provided recommendations on how city leaders can develop climate solutions that benefit all citizens equally. 

Professor Arthur Petersen reached an important milestone with an early submission of his DPhil thesis on science and religion at the University of Oxford; he is now working on the revisions and plans to publish the thesis as a book.

There have been a number of research projects funded through the year: 

• POST 3, an ESRC-funded joint project with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology to examine the use of research evidence in parliament, led by Dr Chris Tyler
• Science Granting Councils Initiative in sub-Saharan Africa Training Effectiveness Case Studies, co-led led by Dr Julius Mugwagwa and Carla Washbourne
• Violence, Abuse and Mental Health Network: Opportunities for Change funded by UKRI and led by Dr Leonie Tanczer
• Institutionalizing Energy Efficiency in Uganda SMEs, funded by the Energy for Economic Growth Programme, OPML and DfID and co-led by Professor Yacob Mulugetta and Dr Meron Tesfamichael. 
• Unlocking the potential of modern cooking services in Ethiopia, funded by Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) programme, DfID, and co-led by Professor Yacob Mulugetta and Dr Meron Tesfamichael
• Privacy-Aware Cloud Ecosystems, led by Professor Madeline Carr
• Geopolitics of Industrial Internet of Things Standards, led by Professor Madeline Carr
• Steering Research and Innovation for the Global Goals, led by Professor Joanna Chataway

This year also saw our first cohort of doctoral candidates complete their studies; Dr Enora Robin, successfully completed her PhD in the Production, Mobilization, Contestation, and Subversion of different forms of Urban Expertise; taking the cases of London and Cape Town; Dr Asaf Tzachor successfully completed his DPA in the area of Sustainability Transitions in Developing Island States; and Dr Michael Veale successfully completed his PhD in the Application of Law and Policy to the Social Challenges of Machine Learning.

Two STEaPP PhD students have also successfully completed their upgrade. 

• Joanna Sawkins completed her PhD upgrade successfully in October. She is carrying on with her practice-oriented work around innovations in local knowledge production for urban policy, focusing on the key role that citizens and community-based organizations in influencing policy. 
• Luke Bevan completed his upgrade successfully in June on the theme of how uncertainty is conceptualised in different research communities, with a focus on the Climate Change and Energy Systems modelling communities.

In February, STEaPP, alongside our colleagues in Computer Science, and Security and Crime Science was awarded £5m from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to establish a CDT Cybersecurity. The Centre, who welcomed its first cohort in October, uses an interdisciplinary approach to train experts from across the spectrum of Engineering and Social Sciences and increase the capacity of the UK to respond to future information and cybersecurity challenges.  It is a major achievement for STEaPP and others involved.

Our policy outreach and impact

Policy activities run as threads through all of our work and STEaPP itself was established to study how science, technology and engineering research and expertise can positively affect policy advice. The Policy Impact Unit, based in STEaPP, continues to grow with our second Policy Advisor, Penny, joining the team. Since staring Penny has been creating and building links with the Treasury and NHS England for the Future Targeted Healthcare Manufacturing Hub. 

The team has also been working with Dr Leonie Tanczer on the Gender and the Internet of Things project and this year have secured meetings with the new Domestic Abuse Commissioner and Leonie was invited to attend the first meeting of the Government’s new ‘media literacy group’ in October. 

This summer also saw the first cohort of the UCL Global Policy Fellows visit London for a week of knowledge exchange activities. The programme was developed to create an international network connecting policy professionals who are making ‘on-the-ground’ decisions with academics whose knowledge is essential to making good decisions. We look forward to seeing the exciting collaborations that evolve from the programme. 

A range of public lectures, engagement activities, Honorary Professorial Inaugural Lectures and STEaPP chats have provided opportunities for engaging people in the work of the department.  We look forward to continuing that outreach and engagement in the New Year.

A big thank you to all our colleagues, friends and collaborators for helping us to make 2019 such an exciting year. Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous 2020.