Challenges for the Natural and Social Sciences –David Chandler and Wyn Grant Working Together Across Disciplines

Why collaboration is needed Many of today’s pressing concerns – climate change, GM technology, stem cell therapy – can only be addressed through such collaboration Emphasis on evidence-based policy- making More public scrutiny of natural science

The challenge To develop a common language and an effective methodological framework This has been a key aim of the RELU programme and of our project on biopesticides in particular

The obstacles Endogenous features of disciplines, e.g., ‘stick to what you know’, perceived theoretical incompatibilities Lack of a common framework within which to conduct research Structural features of universities and RAE Training and professional regulation

Political science and biology: the possibilities of partnership Political science in UK defined by eclecticism in terms of theories and methods, ‘junction subject’ Political science has drawn on social biology (W J M Mackenize) Baumgartner and Jones punctuated equilibrium models draw on evolutionary biology

The opportunities of partnership Political scientists are interested in interactions between entities and setting Both political science and biology have an interest in adaptation to environment Heightened importance of environmental problems creates new opportunities for collaboration

The initial learning curve Biologists thought that political scientists may be identified with a particular political position Used theories and categorisations to drive and test hypotheses in similar way to procedures in biology Political scientists had little awareness of molecular or systems biology

The practical solution Reading literature from the other discipline and presenting it to team meetings Allowed understanding of methodologies and vocabularies Political scientists write more discursively

Similar challenges Debate in biological science about what constitutes a species Similar taxonomic dilemmas in study of politics Unit of analysis issues relate to risks of committing individual or ecological fallacies Scaling up problem in biology

Some similarities and differences Both disciplines use comparison Controlled experiments norm in biology, role of model species in plant science Human behaviour more diverse: we can use the concept of the median voter, but not identify a median voter (the search for ‘Worcester woman’)

What each discipline gains Political science can help with translating natural science evidence into policies Can help natural scientists to appreciate constraints faced by decision-makers Political scientists need scientific advice to participate effectively in highly technical regulatory debate

What each discipline gains (2) Knowledge of scientists about decision- making and policy networks could be placed in a more systematic framework Political science helped biologists to be more deductive and theoretically guided A very positive experience: thanks to Justin Greaves, Gillian Prince and Mark Tatchell