Associate Professor Sujatha Raman

CPAS Director of Research

I joined CPAS in July 2018 as Research Director and Reader. At CPAS, I am exploring the contribution that science communication research and practice can make to stimulating new conversations at the interface of science, innovation, democracy and global challenges. I have a background in the social studies of science and technology (STS) with a particular interest in collaborative research between science and social sciences.

I was previously Co-Director of Research at the Institute for Science and Society (ISS), University of Nottingham (UK). From 2016-18, I was Director of a large Research Programme funded by the UK's Leverhulme Trust, "Making Science Public: Challenges and Opportunities", and led by the University of Nottingham with partners in the University of Sheffield and the University of Warwick.In 2016-17, I led a transdisciplinary team of engineers, social scientists and NGOs in the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Nexus Network Project exploring lessons from bottom-up perspectives in urban Ghana for SDG Goal 7 on sustainable energy. My previous research on biofuels and small-scale energy systems was supported by the UK Biological and Biotechnological Research Council (BBSRC) and the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

I have supervised 13 PhDs to date on a wide variety of topics in science, technology and society pertaining to the UK, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, India, Denmark and transnational settings. Like me, many of my students have come from a background in science or engineering before honing their skills in new ways of thinking and writing about science matters that the social sciences, writ large, have to offer.

Research interests

Science, democracy, publics and public reasoning

Scientific knowledge, evidence and policy

Environment, technology and society; Environmental communication

Environment/health interface

Materials/Energy Nexus; Metal/Energy Nexus and Energy Transitions

Responsible innovation; responsible research and innovation (RRI)

Global challeges and the role of science and technology


Groups

  • Roberson, T, Leach, J & Raman, S 2021, 'Talking about public good for the second quantum revolution: Analysing quantum technology narratives in the context of national strategies', Quantum Science and Technology, vol. 6, no. 2.
  • O'Connor, R, Nel, J, Roux, D et al. 2021, 'The role of environmental managers in knowledge co-production: Insights from two case studies', Environmental Science and Policy, vol. 116, pp. 188-195.
  • Morris, C, Raman, S & Seymour, S 2019, 'Openness to Social Science Knowledges? The Politics of Disciplinary Collaboration within the Field of UK Food Security Research', Sociologia Ruralis, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 23-43.
  • Levidow, L & Raman, S 2019, 'Metamorphosing waste as a resource: Scaling waste management by ecomodernist means', Geoforum, vol. 98, no. 1, pp. 108-122.
  • Helliwell, R, Morris, C & Raman, S 2019, 'Can resistant infections be perceptible in UK dairy farming?', palgrave communications, vol. 5, pp. 1-9.
  • Pearce, W, Mahony, M & Raman, S 2018, 'Science advice for global challenges: Learning from trade-offs in the IPCC', Environmental Science and Policy, vol. 80, pp. 125-131.
  • Pearce, W, Grundmann, R, Hulme, M et al. 2017, 'Beyond Counting Climate Consensus', Environmental Communication, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 723-730.
  • Jewitt, S & Raman, S 2017, 'Energy Poverty, Institutional Reform and Challenges of Sustainable Development: The Case of India', Progress In Development Studies, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 173-185.
  • Pearce, W, Grundmann, R, Hulme, M et al. 2017, 'A Reply to Cook and Oreskes on Climate Science Consensus Messaging', Environmental Communication, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 736-739.
  • Morris, C, Helliwell, R & Raman, S 2016, 'Framing the agricultural use of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance in UK national newspapers and the farming press', Journal of Rural Studies, vol. 45, pp. 43-53.
  • Shortall, O, Raman, S & Millar, K 2015, 'Are plants the new oil? Responsible innovation, biorefining and multipurpose agriculture', Energy Policy, vol. 86, pp. 360-368.
  • Pearce, W, Raman, S & Turner, A 2015, 'Randomised trials in context: practical problems and social aspects of evidence-based medicine and policy', Trials, vol. 16, no. 394, pp. 1-7.
  • Raman, S, Mohr, A, Helliwell, R et al. 2015, 'Integrating social and value dimensions into sustainability assessment of lignocellulosic biofuels', Biomass and Bioenergy, vol. 82, pp. 49-62.
  • Raman, S 2015, 'Responsive novelty: taking innovation seriously in societal research agendas for synthetic biology', Journal of Responsible Innovation, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 117-120.
  • Pearce, W & Raman, S 2014, 'The new randomised controlled trials (RCT) movement in public policy: challenges of epistemic governance', Policy Sciences, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 387-402.
  • Raman, S & Mohr, A 2014, 'Biofuels and the role of space in sustainable innovation journeys', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 65, pp. 224-233.
  • Raman, S & Mohr, A 2014, 'A Social Licence for Science: Capturing the Public or Co-Constructing Research?', Social Epistemology: A Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Policy, vol. 28, no. 3-4, pp. 258-276.
  • Sesan, T, Raman, S, Clifford, M et al. 2013, 'Corporate-Led Sustainable Development and Energy Poverty Alleviation at the Bottom of the Pyramid: The Case of the CleanCook in Nigeria', World Development, vol. 45, pp. 137-146.
  • Raman, S 2013, 'Fossilizing Renewable Energies', Science as Culture, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 172-180.
  • Mohr, A & Raman, S 2013, 'Lessons from first generation biofuels and implications for the sustainability appraisal of second generation biofuels', Energy Policy, vol. 63, pp. 114-122.
  • Mohr, A & Raman, S 2012, 'Representing the Public in Public Engagement: The Case of the 2008 UK Stem Cell Dialogue', PLoS Biology, vol. 10, no. 11, pp. 1-4.
  • Raman, S & Tutton, R 2010, 'Life, science, and biopower', Science, Technology & Human Values, vol. 35, no. 5, pp. 711-734.