Dr Rob Doubleday

Executive Director at Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge

Robert Doubleday
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Executive Director, Centre for Science and Policy

Rob Doubleday has been Executive Director of CSaP since September 2012. Previously Rob established CSaP's research programme. His research interests include the role of science, evidence and expertise in contemporary societies, in particular the relationship between scientific advice, public policy and democracy. His research develops collaborative methods of working with scientists and engineers on the public policy dimensions of their research.

In 2010 Rob spent a year on secondment to the Government Office for Science, working on policies to promote engagement between academia and government. Prior to this Rob was the principal investigator of a three-year Wellcome Trust funded project that studied the policy and public dimensions of nanotechnologies. He has published widely on expert advice and public policy, public engagement with emerging technologies, and on public policy dimensions of scientific knowledge. Rob's recent publications include Future Directions for Citizen Science and Public Policy (CSaP, 2021).

Rob has degrees in Chemistry (Imperial College, London) and Science and Technology Policy (SPRU, University of Sussex). He has a PhD in Geography and Science & Technology Studies from University College London and studied at the Harvard Kennedy School on a Fulbright Scholarship. Rob is an Honorary Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of Environmental Change, University of Lancaster.

  • Projects

    40 Key Research Questions on Science and Policy

    The CSaP Science and Policy Studies Group is running an ambitious programme to identify key questions on the relationship between science and policy.

  • Projects

    Changing role of UK Chief Scientific Advisers: 1990-2010

    This research project aimed to explore how the role of Chief Scientific Advisors changed between 1990 and 2010.

  • Projects

    Future Directions for Scientific Advice in Europe

    The second in a two-part collection, Future Directions for Scientific Advice in Europe was published in April 2015 and updated in June 2015 to take account of developments in the European Commission.

  • Projects

    Future Directions for Scientific Advice in Whitehall

    The first in a two-part collection of essays, Future Directions for Scientific Advice in Whitehall focuses on scientific advice in the United Kingdom. The collection was published following a series of seminars on that topic held in 2013, and was launched at the 2013 CSaP Annual Conference.

  • Projects

    Science, policy making and public dialogue: New and emerging issues in the UK

    The Centre for Science and Policy and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) are collaborating on a horizon-scanning process, the focus of which will be new public policy issues that are likely to emerge in the UK in the next five to ten years.

  • Projects

    The European Biodiversity Observation Network

    A major new European Commission funded project on biodiversity science and policy, undertaken by a consortium of 30 partners from 18 countries.

  • Projects

    Understanding How Research Is Put Into Use

    A review of good practice examples of how to translate research into practice in order to promote the sustainable management of natural resources and to allieviate poverty.

  • In news articles

    Net zero

    The final panel session of the Centre for Science and Policy’s (CSaP) annual reception 2021 discussed net zero ambitions. It was chaired by Dr Rob Doubleday, the Centre’s Executive Director with panellists; Dr Christina Peñasco, Lecturer in Public Policy, Cambridge and Dr Matthew Agarwala, Economist at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, Cambridge.

  • In news articles

    Knowledge, Expertise and the Policy Process

    A report of the discussion on Professor Susan Owens' book "Knowledge, Policy and Expertise: The UK Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution 1970-2011"