SATSU at a glance
The Science & Technology Studies Unit, in the Department of Sociology, is a specialist unit dedicated to rigorous analysis of the social dynamics informing contemporary and prospective science and technology. It has an established international reputation as a centre of excellence in three areas: the sociology of the biosciences, mobilities, informatics and space, and science and technology governance.
Foundations
SATSU was founded by Andrew Webster in 1988 and has grown now to a core staff of 14 and 11 Associate Research Fellows within the UK and overseas. It has also ongoing postgraduate programmes at Masters and PhD levels. The Unit was also a Marie Curie Training Site between 2001-5 for a postgraduate programme on ‘New genetics and society’, funded by the EC. In 2009 the Social Informatics Research Unit joined with SATSU to deepen and extend our collective work in the informatics field.
Consultancies and collaborations
The Unit has secured funding for a range of projects and consultancies from various bodies including the ESRC, EPSRC, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, Regional Development Agencies and the UK’s Big Lottery Fund. It is involved in several international collaborations including partnership in an EU Network of Excellence (PRIME) and links with research groups in the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and the USA, and has coordinated a number of international research projects. The unit has also hosted the ESRC's Innovative Health Technologies Programme, directed by Andrew Webster and the current ESRC Initiative on Stem Cells also co-ordinated by Webster, while Roger Burrows was also Director of the ESRC’s e-Society Programme. Graham Lewis managed a major project funded by the Big Lottery Fund relating to the national peer review of medical and social research proposals for BIG’s Research Grant Programme on health and social well being, 2006-2009.
Expertise
It has made a major contribution to work on the biosciences through its analysis of stem cells, pharmacogenetics, clinical genetics, design and the uptake of health technologies, and developed new approaches to the analysis of expectations about the future of new technology. It has developed expertise in the HCI/STS interface through its analysis of social informatics and design and increasingly interested in the spatial dynamics involved in this field through its links to the Spatial Informatics Lab. Its work in the area of governance is exploring science policy and evidence, standards, and the relation between regulation and innovation.
Useful links
Contact
The Unit is keen to undertake collaborative research at a national and international level in any of these areas, and invites inquiries to be made to Professor Andrew Webster, Director SATSU (andrew.webster@york.ac.uk)