Eu-SPRI Early Career Research Training School
7-10 October, 2025
Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University
SCIENCE SYSTEMS IN AND FOR TRANSITIONS: DOING POLICY-RELEVANT REEARCH ON TRANSFORMING SCIENCE SYSTEMS
Grand societal challenges relating to climate change, planetary health, and global inequalities are placing new demands on the ways in which scientific knowledge is produced, used, and evaluated, as well as on the policies and institutions that shape these processes. There is a growing consensus that responses to these urgent challenges require new modes of knowledge production and a rethink of the relationships between science, society, and policy. Over the past two decades, this recognition has contributed to the emergence and mainstreaming of new approaches to knowledge co-production such as transdisciplinary and transformative research, alongside broader institutional reforms aimed at promoting Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), Open Science (OS) and a third-generation of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policies. These developments are unfolding in a changing geopolitical landscape marked by rising concerns over knowledge security and authoritarianism. Together, they raise critical questions on the future of science and its place in society and policy-making processes.
The Eu-SPRI Early Career Research Training School on Science in and for transitions aims to bring early career scholars together for training on these issues, with a specific focus on doing policy-relevant research on changing science systems. During the Early Career Training School, we will discuss how we can understand, study, and strengthen the dynamics and capacities of science system and policies to contribute to addressing grand societal challenges. The school explicitly addresses the exchange between various intellectual traditions and perspectives within the domains of innovation studies, STI policy, science, technology and society (STS) and transition studies, which all increasingly engage with notions of transformation and transformative change in relation to science. Building on participants’ own research projects, we will also introduce a range of approaches to critically reflect on and strengthen their capacity to conduct policy-relevant research within the Eu-SPRI community, and to contribute to shaping science systems that support societal transitions.
In particular, the Early Career training school addresses the following key areas:
- Historical and contemporary perspectives on the evolving science-society contract and transformation of science systems;
- Studies of the societal impact of research, including how impact is generated, understood, and evaluated by various actors within the science system;
- Emerging approaches to knowledge co-production, such as transdisciplinary and transformative research, and their implications for the role of researchers;
- The historical and contemporary role of science within STI policy, with particular attention to third-generation transformative STI policy;
- Notions of responsibility and openness in the governance and policy of science, and their relevance for the production, use and evaluation of research;
- Perspectives on the design and functioning of the science–policy interface;
- Emerging issues related to knowledge security, global science, and shifting geopolitical dynamics, and their implications for the future of science.
Target group: The training school is open to PhD candidates from both Eu-SPRI member and non-member organisations working in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) studies, particularly those focusing on science dynamics, systems, and policies. It also welcomes PhD candidates from the sustainability transitions field with an interest in the role of science in transition processes. Applications from postdoctoral researchers and practitioners are also considered. Participation is limited to 25 spots.
Local team (UU): Kristina Bogner, Gaston Heimeriks, Jarno Hoekman, Jonas Torrens
Teachers: The course brings together faculty from Utrecht University (UU) and outside with expertise on studying science dynamics, systems, and policies. Confirmed speakers are Prof. Dr. Magnus Gulbrandsen, Prof. Dr. Laurens Hessels (Rathenau Institute) (University of Oslo) and Dr. Lotte Krabbenborg (Radboud University). Part of the program is co-organised with the Rathenau Institute. More speakers will be announced.
Costs and arrangements: The training school is provided free of charge (including accommodation) for early-career researchers affiliated to Eu-SPRI member institutes. The cost for participants of non Eu-SPRI members is 200 euros (including accommodation). Arrangements for the training school include accommodation as well as a diner on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Participants need to pay their own travel and they have to make their own travel arrangements.
This event is fully subscribed.
Contact Gaston Heimeriks at g.j.heimeriks@uu.nl
