Policy at Cambridge

Working together to address some of the most pressing problems of our time

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Bennett Institute of Public Policy

The Centre for Science and Policy is working in close collaboration with the Bennett Institute for Public Policy. This new Institute is rethinking public policy in an era of turbulence and growing inequality. Research at the Institute connects the world-leading work in technology and science at Cambridge with the economic and political dimensions of policy-making. CSaP is working with the Bennett Institute on policy engagement as part of this work to devise sustainable solutions to some of the most pressing problems of our time.

The Bennett Institute for Public Policy launched in April 2018. In addition to conducting academic and policy research, it is expanding the portfolio of public policy education and training offered at the University of Cambridge. It is based at the department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) at the University.

CSaP is collaborating with the Bennett Institute and Churchill College on providing professional development opportunities for mid-career to senior academics in science and engineering in particular. As part of this project on-line Policy Resources have also been created to provide practical advice on how academics can engage with and inform a range of policy makers in the UK parliament, government and beyond.

CSaP and the Bennett Institute are also working together on the Expertise under Pressure project, seeking to establish a broad framework for understanding what makes expertise authoritative, when experts overreach, and what realistic demands communities should place on experts. The case studies are the UK Government’s emergency response, the rise to prominence of agglomeration theory in public policy and city planning, and philosophical controversies about the possibility and objectivity of social science.

There are opportunities for some of CSaP’s Policy Fellows to explore further their questions and the insights they learn during their Policy Fellowship meetings, through involvement with the Bennett Institute.

CSaP invites Policy Fellows and others in our network to relevant Bennett Institute events, and the Bennett Institute also produces a newsletter, which can be signed up for at www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk.