On the 9th of March, NERC-funded doctoral students attended the second workshop session in a two-part professional development programme hosted by the Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP). The objective of this session was to give PhD students hands-on experience of delivering scientific advice to policymakers. Students were divided into groups and asked to produce policy briefings to be judged by a panel featuring Professor Sir David King, Professor Bill Sutherland and Sam Reed. This exercise was accompanied by presentations exploring speakers’ career trajectories in academia and policy.

Wealth Economy attempts to measure ‘what matters’ - the ingredients of economic welfare – such as natural capital. Are there ways in which we can measure the value of so-called natural capital? How does natural capital intersect with other forms? We explored these questions and more as part of our seminar series on Levelling Up.

In the third episode of CSaP: The Science & Policy Podcast's mini-series on genetic technologies, Dr Rob Doubleday and expert guests Professor Bill Adams and Dr Catherine Rhodes discussed gene drives, the implications of genetic technologies for conservation, biological conventions, and biological risks.

In the second episode of CSaP’s podcast miniseries exploring science and policy for space, deep ocean environments, and Antarctica, host Dr Rob Doubleday spoke with expert guests about the risks and policy questions posed by ways in which human interactions with and exploit these environments. We explored the risks and questions involved in deep sea mining, how scientists are managing the delicate balance between studying and protecting fragile environments, and the growing problem of space debris.

How should researchers synthesise diverse evidence and construct compelling answers to policy questions? What are the differences between being an honest broker of information and an issue advocate? How can early-career researchers get involved with the world of policy?

Dr. Soutrik Basu and Mr. Anupam Kumar explore the pathways along which India can transition to Agriculture 4.0, a system which delivers efficient, productive and sustainable farming through its heavy use of technology.

How do institutions earn the trust needed to guide personal decision making through the evidence they provide?

Place matters in terms of culture and identity, yet nationally everything is connected. With this in mind, we asked: should levelling up be a central government agenda or a series of local tied-together agendas? Perhaps what really matters is that any interventions need to be ‘done with’, rather than ‘done to’.

Recent advances in science and technology have created new opportunities for us to explore and study Antarctica, the deep ocean, and near-Earth space in a way that until recently, would have been unimaginable. We explored some of these technological advances in the first episode of our six-part podcast mini series on Science & Policy for Space, Deep Oceans, and Antarctica.

Professor Muki Haklay inspects the barriers facing citizen science and asks how we can best overcome them.