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Improving the effectiveness of the biological weapons non-proliferation regime and the biosecurity practices of life scientists

Summary of the impact

Research at Bradford has focused on the Biological Non-Proliferation work of the Bradford Disarmament Research Centre (BDRC). The research-informed impact of this work is two-fold. Firstly BDRC has influenced, and continues to influence, decision- and policy-making involving 170 States on how to strengthen global governance through improvements to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC). As a consequence of this influence BDRC has changed the practices of institutions and individual researchers and thus has, through novel training and curriculum development, helped foster a culture of biosecurity to reduce the risk of inadvertent or deliberate misuse of life and associated science research.

Submitting Institution

University of Bradford

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Secret Science: Chemical and biological warfare research and policy in Britain

Summary of the impact

The development of chemical and biological warfare (CBW) in Britain is surrounded by secrecy and controversy, and attracts great public interest. Professor Brian Balmer's research has made him a leading commentator on this aspect of national defence policy, and as such he has had a major impact on public awareness and understanding of CBW, in the UK and abroad. His expertise has often been called upon to explain to the general public the import of newly declassified documents. His research has also had an impact on policy-makers, NGOs and others by informing them about the history of policy debates about the control of CBW weapons.

Submitting Institution

University College London

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Sociology
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies
Philosophy and Religious Studies: History and Philosophy of Specific Fields

Enhancing International Disarmament

Summary of the impact

Reducing the humanitarian suffering associated with conflict is a vital but demanding task, not least because continuing developments in science and technology enable ever more destructive capabilities. Brian Rappert's research has benefited international efforts to limit the consequences of the use of force. It has done this by challenging conventional wisdom, identifying poorly recognized issues; evaluating emerging policy initiatives by governments, international agencies, science academies and non-government agencies; establishing new practitioner networks; facilitating international debate; shaping international diplomatic agendas; influencing professional standards and training through the development of resources; and successfully advocating a strategy for negotiating a major disarmament treaty.

Submitting Institution

University of Exeter

Unit of Assessment

Sociology

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science

Reforming Public Bodies

Summary of the impact

Research conducted at the University of Sheffield on the `unbundling' of the state through the use of various forms of arm's-length bodies (or quangos), undertaken in association with a range of professional and regulatory bodies, has contributed to and informed subsequent governmental and parliamentary reforms. More specifically, research has shaped: core elements of the coalition government's `Public Bodies Reform Agenda'; the Public Bodies Act 2011; reforms within the Cabinet Office; the introduction of triennial reviews; and, a review of the public appointments system. Furthermore, research into the control and management of public bodies has led to the identification of a number of institutional and skills-based gaps being addressed by the coalition government.

Submitting Institution

University of Sheffield

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Political Science

Diagnosis of the Genetic Causes of Deafness

Summary of the impact

About one in 1,000 children are born deaf, and nearly half of all children born deaf have a mutation in one of a number of different genes. Work at Sussex in 1998 on the composition of the tectorial membrane, an extracellular matrix of the inner ear, led to the identification of TECTA as a deafness gene. Because of our research, mutations in TECTA are now known to be a cause of autosomal dominant non-syndromic hearing loss, with 288 affected patients from 51 different families identified worldwide, to date accounting for ~1-2 per cent of all autosomal dominant non-syndromic hearing loss. Critically, TECTA is now one of 60 deafness genes included in genetic tests for hereditary deafness.

Submitting Institution

University of Sussex

Unit of Assessment

Biological Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Biological Sciences: Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Genetics
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences

Scientific facts and public knowledge: ensuring quality and integrity

Summary of the impact

In February 2010, the Dutch government and parliament were rocked by a serious factual mis- reporting from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) about the danger of flooding in the Netherlands. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, faced with the immense task of checking that there were no more errors in the report, came to LSE researchers for advice. Academics working on LSE's How Well Do Facts Travel? project helped the Agency to establish a process to ensure the integrity of climate-science facts in an efficient and effective manner. That Agency has now extended the method to ensure the integrity of the facts reported in the next generation of IPCC reports (one completed, others forthcoming).

Thus the LSE research, which investigated the histories of how, why and when facts travel with integrity, has been used to improve the quality of scientific evidence in public policy formation about one of the major challenges facing society, that of climate change.

Submitting Institution

London School of Economics & Political Science

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Cognitive Sciences
Language, Communication and Culture: Linguistics

Challenging Behavioral Assumptions Underpinning Public Policy Design

Summary of the impact

The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics (CeDEx) at Nottingham is a world leader in the development and application of experimental and behavioural economics. CeDEx's research is increasingly influential in affecting the way in which experimental methodology is utilised by public sector agencies (e.g. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, DEFRA) and in fashioning the public and policy makers' understanding of how human motivations and decision processes affect individual and group behaviour and, in particular, their responses to different policy tools (e.g. incentives, regulation, information, `nudges' etc). The research of the CeDEx group has had broad and diffuse impacts on public decision-making and public debate; through public events, the provision of advice to government departments and regulators, the delivery of training workshops, commissioned research and an active strategy of engagement in public debate.

Submitting Institution

University of Nottingham

Unit of Assessment

Economics and Econometrics

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Economics: Applied Economics

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