Prof James Wilsdon

Biography

I joined SPRU (Science & Technology Policy Research) in December 2011 as Professor of Science and Democracy. I am also an Associate Fellow at NESTA and at the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.

From September 2013, I will be Chair of the Campaign for Social Science, which was set up in 2011 to raise the profile of UK social science and demonstrate its value to the public, policymakers and the media.

My research interests at SPRU include the role of evidence and expertise in policymaking; the politics of scientific advice; public engagement in research; and science and innovation policy in the UK, China and other emerging economies. I am also Co-Convenor of our MSc programme in Science and Technology Policy.

From 2008 to 2011, I was the founding Director of the Science Policy Centre at the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, where I coordinated a series of influential studies on topics such as geoengineering, food security, science diplomacy, open science, and the prospects for science in the Islamic world. I also led the Royal Society's evidence gathering and advocacy for investment in research through the 2010 UK General Election and subsequent Spending Review.

Prior to this, I was Head of Science and Innovation (2004-2008) and Head of Strategy (2001-2004) at the think tank Demos, and Senior Policy Adviser (1997-2001) at the sustainability NGO Forum for the Future. At Demos, I was also director of The Atlas of Ideas, a two-year study described by the Financial Times as ‘the most comprehensive analysis yet of science and innovation in China, India and South Korea.’ From 2006 to 2008, I was a part-time Senior Research Fellow at Lancaster University's Institute for Advanced Studies.

I've researched and written widely on science policy, scientific advice, the governance of new technologies and the globalization of research. My main publications include Future Directions for Scientific Advice in Whitehall (CSaP/Alliance for Useful Evidence, 2013); The Scientific Century (Royal Society, 2010), New frontiers in science diplomacy (Royal Society, 2010), The Atlas of Ideas (Demos, 2007), China: the next science superpower? (Demos, 2007), The Public Value of Science (Demos, 2005), See-through Science (Demos, 2004) and Digital Futures (Earthscan, 2001).

In September 2012, I joined the Governing Board of CISTRAT (International Research and Training Centre for Science and Technology Strategy) in Beijing, a new centre established under the auspices of UNESCO and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.

I took my first degree in philosophy and theology at Oxford University, followed by a master's degree in sustainable development and a doctorate in technology policy from Middlesex University.

I've written for the Financial Times, Times Higher Education, Nature, China Daily, Green Futures, OpenDemocracy, Renewal and SEED. I am also part of the blogging team on the Guardian's 'Political Science' blog, and you can find me on twitter @jameswilsdon 

My research interests include:

• Evidence, expertise and interdisciplinarity in policymaking
• The politics of scientific advice
• Public engagement in research
• The governance of new technologies
• UK science and innovation policy
• Science & innovation in China and other emerging economies

I am Co-Convenor of SPRU's MSc programme in Science and Technology Policy.

Doubleday, Robert and Wilsdon, James (2012) Science policy: beyond the great and good. Nature, 485 (7398). pp. 301-302. ISSN 0028-0836

Wilsdon, James and et al, (2011) Knowledge, networks and nations: global scientific collaboration in the 21st century. Royal Society Policy document 03/11 . The Royal Society, London. ISBN 978-0-85403-890-9

Tyfield, David and Wilsdon, James (2011) Low-carbon China: the role of international collaboration. In: Sustainable reform and development in post-Olympic China. Routledge studies on the Chinese economy (40). Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, pp. 60-76. ISBN 9780415559560

Day, Natalie, Wilsdon, James and Mahsood, Ehsan (2010) A new golden age? The prospects for science and innovation in the Islamic world. A Royal Society briefing paper. Royal Society Policy document 05/10 . The Royal Society, London. ISBN 978-0-85403-836-7

Taylor, Martin, Martin, Ben, Wilsdon, James and et al, (2010) The scientific century: securing our future prosperity. Royal Society Policy document 02/10 . The Royal Society, London. ISBN 978-0-85403-818-3

Koppelman, Ben, Day, Natalie, Davison, Neil, Elliott, Tracey and Wilsdon, James (2010) New frontiers in science diplomacy: navigating the changing balance of power. Royal Society Policy document 01/10 . The Royal Society, London. ISBN 978-0-85403-811-4

Stilgoe, J and Wilsdon, J (2007) Rules of engagement: democracy and dialogue in creating nanotechnology futures. In: Nanoethics: the ethical and social implications of nanotechnology. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, pp. 241-250. ISBN 978-0470084175