The role of expertise in governance processes

In present day knowledge societies political decisions are often justified on the basis of scientific expertise. Traditionally, a linear relation between knowledge production and application was postulated which would lead, with more and better science, to better policies. Empirical studies in Science and Technology studies have essentially demolished this idea. However, it is still powerful, not least among practitioners working in fields where decision making is based on large doses of expert knowledge. Based on conceptual work in the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) I shall examine two cases of global environmental governance, ozone layer protection and global climate change. I will argue that hybridization and purification are important for two major forms of scientific expertise. One is delivered though scientific advocacy (by individual scientists or groups of scientists), the other through expert committees, i.e. institutionalized forms of collecting and communicating expertise to decision makers. Based on this analysis lessons will be drawn, also with regard to the stalling efforts at establishing an international forestry regime.

Visual thinking in recent neuroscience

After a consideration of visual thinking in science the role of such thinking in neuroscience is discussed. Three instances are examined - cortical column, retina, impulse - and it is argued that visual thinking is employed, though in different ways, in each. It lies at the core of neurobiological thought.

Trend analysis in scientometrics

The thesis investigates the properties of two trends or time series which formed a:part of the Co-Citation bibliometric model "X~Ray Crystallography and Protein Determination in 1978, 1980 and 1982". This model was one of several created for the 1983 ABRC Science Policy Study which aimed to test the utility of bibliometric models in a national science policy context. The outcome of the validation part of that study proved to be especially favourable concerning the utility of trend data, which purport to model the development of speciality areas in science over time. This assessment could have important implications for the use of such data in policy formulation. However one possible problem with the Science Policy Study's conclusions was that insufficient time was available in the study for an in-depth analysis of the data. The thesis aims to continue the validation begun in the ABRC study by providing a detailed.examination of the characteristics of the data contained in the Trends numbered 11 and 44 in the model. A novel methodology for the analysis of the properties of the trends with respect to their literature content is presented. This is followed by an assessment based on questionnaire and interview data, of the ability of Trend 44 to realistically model the historical development of the field of mobile genetic elements research over time, with respect to its scientific content and the activities of its community of researchers. The results of these various analyses are then used to evaluate the strenghts and weaknesses of a trend or time series approach to the modelling of the activities of scientifiic fields. A critical evaluation of the origins of the discovered strengths and weaknesses.in the assumptions underlying the techniques used to generate trends from co-citation data is provided. Possible improvements. to the modelling techniques are discussed.

The role of experts in policy making

As public policy issues increasingly have a technical aspect to them an interactive relationship has developed between science and policy. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the two aspects of this relationship: the influence of science on policy and the influence of policy implications on science. Most existing studies in this area treat only one or other of these aspects. Furthermore, they tend to provide interesting case study material but very little theoretical analysis. This thesis attempts to overcome these problems by dealing with both aspects of the interaction between science and policy and by providing theoretical models of this relationship. The thesis combines the theoretical development of these models with the analysis of three empirical case studies: the controversy in Britain over smoking and health; the application of educational psychology to the development of education policy in Britain; the controversy over the health effect of lead in the environment. The theoretical models are developed in Part 1. In Part 2 the empirical case studies are presented and in Part 3 the theoretical material is assessed in the light of these case studies. The main thesis of this study is that there is a fundamental mismatch between science and policy-making. Criticism is always essential in science. However, when science is involved in the policy process, either scientific claims are not subjected to a significant level of criticism or they are scrutinized so closely that no view achieves general consensus and conflicting advice results. In this situation, contrary to the traditional view, science can generate uncertainty. The role which science plays in the policy process is influenced by this level of criticism, by the context of political power and by the progress of an issue through the various stages of the policy process.

Scientists, trade unions and labour movement policies for science and technology, 1947-1964

This thesis describes the history of the scientific Left beginning with the period of its most extensive influence in the mid-1940s as a movement for the planning of science and ending with the Labour Party's programme of 1964 claiming to harness science and socialism. Its central theme is the external and internal pressures involved in the project to align left-wing politics, trade unions and social responsibility in science. The problematic aspects of this project are examined in the evolution of the Association of Scientific Workers and the World Federation of Scientific Workers as organisations committed to trade union and science policy objectives. This is presented also in the broader context of the Association's attempts to influence the Trade Union Congress's policies for science and technology in a more radical direction. The thesis argues that the shift in the balance of political forces in the labour movement, in the scientific community and in the state brought about by the Cold War was crucial in frustrating these endeavours. This led to alternative, but largely unsuccessful attempts, in the form of the Engels Society and subsequently Science for Peace to create the new expressions of the left-wing politics of science. However, the period 1956-1964 was characterised by intensive interest within the Labour Party in science and technology which reopened informal channels of political influence for the scientific Left. This was not matched by any radical renewal within the Association or the Trade Union Congress and thus took place on a narrower basis and lacked the democratic aspects of the earlier generation of socialist science policy.

An alternating boundary integral based method for a Cauchy problem for the Laplace equation in a quadrant

We study the Cauchy problem for the Laplace equation in a quadrant (quarter-plane) containing a bounded inclusion. Given the values of the solution and its derivative on the edges of the quadrant the solution is reconstructed on the boundary of the inclusion. This is achieved using an alternating iterative method where at each iteration step mixed boundary value problems are being solved. A numerical method is also proposed and investigated for the direct mixed problems reducing these to integral equations over the inclusion. Numerical examples verify the efficiency of the proposed scheme.

Predicting university success in psychology:are subject-specific skills important?

The relationship between previous academic achievement and subsequent success at university was explored in a retrospective study of 56 UK psychology students. It was found that the subjects studied at A-level, and the grades obtained, did not predict performance at university. In contrast, GCSE grades, in particular those achieved in Science and English, were significant predictors of final year marks. Once at university, first and second year results had an incremental ability to predict final year performance, with an additional effect of undertaking a work placement. The implications of the results are discussed within the context of recent literature relating to cognitive and non-cognitive predictors of academic performance.

Online learning in discrete hidden Markov models

We present and analyze three different online algorithms for learning in discrete Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) and compare their performance with the Baldi-Chauvin Algorithm. Using the Kullback-Leibler divergence as a measure of the generalization error we draw learning curves in simplified situations and compare the results. The performance for learning drifting concepts of one of the presented algorithms is analyzed and compared with the Baldi-Chauvin algorithm in the same situations. A brief discussion about learning and symmetry breaking based on our results is also presented. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Numerical solution of a Cauchy problem for Laplace equation in 3-dimensional domains by integral equations

A numerical method based on integral equations is proposed and investigated for the Cauchy problem for the Laplace equation in 3-dimensional smooth bounded doubly connected domains. To numerically reconstruct a harmonic function from knowledge of the function and its normal derivative on the outer of two closed boundary surfaces, the harmonic function is represented as a single-layer potential. Matching this representation against the given data, a system of boundary integral equations is obtained to be solved for two unknown densities. This system is rewritten over the unit sphere under the assumption that each of the two boundary surfaces can be mapped smoothly and one-to-one to the unit sphere. For the discretization of this system, Weinert’s method (PhD, Göttingen, 1990) is employed, which generates a Galerkin type procedure for the numerical solution, and the densities in the system of integral equations are expressed in terms of spherical harmonics. Tikhonov regularization is incorporated, and numerical results are included showing the efficiency of the proposed procedure.