What is Science Policy?
As graduate students, we all work hard to deepen the understanding of our particular field. Progressing science by adding new insights is exciting and important work, which is why many of us have chosen to be in graduate school!
But what happens once our research is out there? Once the paper has been published, the conference poster presented and packed away?
The rigorous nature of academia has facilitated some incredible breakthroughs that immensely benefit society. But it has also created what is colloquially referred to as the “ivory tower”, which describes the estrangement of researchers from the people our science is meant to serve.
The vast, vast majority of our publications and seminars will only be received by fellow academics. We spend so much of our time creating new research that we may not pause to ask ourselves whether and how existing science is being applied to daily life.
For example, research has long shown that the area of our brain involved in rational decision-making (the prefrontal cortex) doesn’t fully mature until our late twenties, yet the US has done little to curb rates of juvenile incarceration. Despite efforts to destigmatize and decriminalize mental illness, the largest mental health facility in the world is still the Twin Towers Jail here in Los Angeles County.
(Image: Gogtay et al.)
To us, “science policy” means learning how to equip ourselves, as scientists, to bridge that gap between science and society. Whichever form that effort takes is up to you, whether you’re interested in making your research more accessible by working on our general communication skills, creating resources for local lawmakers to navigate the more technical aspects of science-related issues, or working to understand the context of the scientific distrust and misinformation that has come to define US politics.
Some of our members are interested in pursuing careers that focus on translating science to everyday applications, but many just want to explore that relationship between science and the public. Whatever your goals and interests are, our group is designed to be a resource to you. If you have an idea, we will give you the manpower, resources, and logistical guidance to implement it! If you want to hop onto a project, we have many brewing and would love your contributions. If you want to observe as you figure out how much (or whether at all) you want to be involved in this group, well, we love that too!
What does science policy mean to you? We encourage you to explore our projects and stay in the loop!