Venue: University of Bonn
Date: 10-14 September 2018
Recent years have pointed to ever-growing interdependencies between science and politics. The mutual entanglement of both spheres manifests on many levels: In the face of complex societal challenges, ranging from migration crises to climate change, political decision making is ever more reliant on scientific expertise and policy advice. As a consequence, the institutionalization of politically relevant scientific advice has substantially diversified over the years, ranging from governmental, yet independent expert organizations and advisory positions, to think tanks or international expert agencies. Universities as well as individual scientists, in turn, are responsive to political demands and changing government regimes. Both academic research and the higher education system depend on political resources, the provision of a regulatory framework, a functioning education system and so forth. Recent scholarship in Science and Technology Studies (STS), Higher Education Studies (HES), and Science Policy and Innovation Studies (SPIS) aims at qualifying this intricate relationship between science and politics, in its various, oftentimes subtle, even hidden, dimensions.