School of Social and Political Science

Research interests

Academic Profile

I am a social scientist trained at the Universities of Coimbra (Portugal) and York (UK). My research deals with questions of public participation in science and technology, expertise and the democratisation of knowledge, particularly around topics linked to the environment and climate change. I am predominantly interested in exploring new ways of linking-up citizen participation, knowledge production and policy implementation with a view to identifying novel responses to key societal challenges. I joined the University of Edinburgh in 2010 as Research Fellow at the ESRC Genomics Forum. 

My PhD, from the University of York (UK), examined the nature and role of 'lay' engagement in environmental monitoring, establishing a framework for the analysis of public involvement in monitoring activities and contributing to the development of a sociology of monitoring. 

Prior to moving to the UK, I held a lectureship in sociology at the University of Minho (Braga, Portugal) and was a junior researcher at the Centre for Social Studies (University of Coimbra).

Qualifications

PhD, Sociology, University of York, England

Masters by Research, Sociology, University of Coimbra, Portugal

BA, Sociology, University of Coimbra, Portugal

Research

I’m developing research on new practices and notions of public participation, the digital and citizenship. This work is informed by previous projects on citizen science, knowledge making and public participation (see below).

I'm a founding member of SKAPE, the Centre for Science, Knowledge and Policy and an affiliate member of the Research Training Centre, both based in the School of Social and Political Science.

Current Roles

I'm co-director of SKAPE, the centre for the study of Science, Knowledge and Policy which links science studies with political science and social policy at the University of Edinburgh.

I'm also Programme Director for the MSc SaTiS, Science and Technology in Society.

I serve on the Ethics Committee of the Portuguese Sociological Association and I'm a member of the Research Steering Committee of the Centre for Adapting to Changing Environments (ACE), University of Edinburgh.

Current Teaching

*New course for 2024/25*: Citizens and Science: public participation in science and technology.

Research Design for Science, Technology and Innovation Studies (STIS 10014); 2nd semester (honours).

Knowledge, Expertise and Policy: science and politics in contemporary governance (STIS 10010); 2nd semester (honours). Relaunching in 2024/25.

I contribute to Sustainable Development 1a, with a lecture on Citizen Participation for Sustainable Development.

Research Projects

Scoping Impact: Mapping, Evaluating and Learning from Contemporary Trends in Research Impact Definition (ESRC, 2023). Joint PI. This project was commissioned by the ESRC with the aim of providing a state-of-the-art survey of contemporary trends in how research impact is defined in the social sciences. Conducted under the remit of SKAPE.

The Politics of Monitoring: Information, Indicators and Targets in Climate Change, Defence and Immigration Policy (ESRC funded, 2013-16). Co-I. This project examined both the determinants and the implications of monitoring policies across three key policy areas: climate change, immigration control and defence procurement over a 20-year period (1994-2014). See some of the outcomes under ‘publications’.

From Anxiety to Happiness: linking the digital self to the public good (CHSS funded, 2015). Joint lead-applicant and Co-I. This pilot, run with colleagues from Politics and Clinical Psychology, was the outcome of a sand-pit style event organised by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences to encourage interdisciplinary and ‘transformational’ research. We examined whether self-quantifying behaviours and practices, together with a non-clinical level of anxiety, can be a stimulus to engagement with wider causes, including those that would be classed as public goods.

Beltane Public Engagement Fellowship on Users’ Experiences of Citizen Science (Beltane Public Engagement Network funded 2014). This fellowship aimed to develop a new approach to Citizen Science (CS) initiatives. It gathered participants (citizens), academics, practitioners and officials with a link to activities defined as CS. Through focused discussions it obtained a better understanding of what the actors involved see as the benefits and shortcomings of taking part in or organising CS.

EU ZOOS XXI: engaging the public in nature conservation (EU FP7 funded, 2010-12). This project examined the role of European zoos in promoting public engagement with biodiversity conservation. I worked on strategies for public engagement with biodiversity and conservation issues in European zoos and marine parks. In large part this was a practical project aimed at developing new forms of interaction with the public; most of these have been established in the partner zoos.

My full list of Publications can be found here but have a look at:

Goñi, J. “Iñaki,” Rodrigues, E., Parga, M. J., Illanes, M., & Millán, M. J. (2024). Tooling with ethics in technology: a scoping review of responsible research and innovation tools. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2024.2360228

Coombs, N., MacDonogh, H. & Rodrigues, E. (2024), Scoping Impact: An International Study of Contemporary Definitions and Conceptualisations of Impact by Funders of Social Science Research. Edinburgh: SKAPE, Centre for Science, Knowledge and Policy. 37 p.

Rodrigues, E (2018) ‘On SSK and Conversing with Scientists: Eugénia Rodrigues Talks with Michael J. Mulkay’ Engaging Science, Technology, and Society 4: 408-422.

Boswell, C and Rodrigues, E (2016) 'Policies, Politics and Organizational Problems: Multiple Streams and the Implementation of Targets in UK Government', Policy & Politics (44:4), 507-524. http://dx.doi.org/10.1332/030557315X14477577990650.

Wienroth, M and Rodrigues, E (2015) (eds) Knowing New Biotechnologies. Social Aspects of Technological Convergence. Oxford: Routledge. http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138022935/

Rodrigues, E (1995) Os novos movimentos sociais e o associativismo ambientalista em Portugal. Oficina do CES 60, 36.

Knowledge Exchange & Public Engagement

The Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing of Data and Evidence Network (CSCS Network) (IAD funded, 2015 onwards). With colleagues from across the University of Edinburgh (Biology, Law, Information Services, Health Sciences, Geosciences among others), I developed this network based on a shared interest or involvement in Citizen Science (CS), the Crowdsourcing of Evidence, and public participation in scientific, medical, humanities and policy research. This project follows on the work I started with the Beltane Fellowship and the CHSS-KE grant (below). For examples of past activities see http://citsci.ed.ac.uk/.

CHSS – Knowledge Exchange Grant on “Citizen Science ‘unplugged’: knowledge exchange with participants in and users of ‘citizen science’” (CHSS funded, 2014). This grant materialised in the ‘Citizen Science Discussion Forum’ (with policymakers, NGOs, practitioners, commissioners of citizen science and the citizen scientists themselves) for a facilitated discussion about engagement, participation, collaboration and the democratisation of knowledge.

Recent Invited Presentations

June 2021, International Seminar Biomes Project - Scientific Challenges for a New Global Food Pact. Forum do Futuro, Plataforma do Conhecimento, Brazil. Discussant in the Science and Society Dialogue panel. Reports here and here (in Portuguese).

Nov 2020 “New forms of public participation in science and citizenship”. Presentation to the conference series of the Doctoral Programme in Sociology 20/21. University of Coimbra.

July 2019, “Citizen science as open science?”. Presentation to the panel on Open Science, Conference of the European Group of Organization Studies (EGOS).

PhD Topics

My interests are located in the broad areas of environmental sociology and science and technology studies and I would especially welcome proposals that refer to topics where these two fields meet. In particular, I would be interested in supervising research students on themes such as: monitoring and surveillance, environmental monitoring, new forms of lay participation mediated through new technologies and new social media, public engagement with and in science and technology notably within so-called citizen science initiatives.

• PhD in Science and Technology Studies
• MSc (R) Science and Technology Studies

Current PhD Students

Iñaki Goñi (Science, Technology and Innovation Studies): Dialogues as social technologies: Towards a framework for public dialogue design in science and technology. [working title]

Sofie Thoft Illemann Jaeger (Science, Technology and Innovation Studies): “No one will protect what they don't care about”: Examining participation strategies for public engagement with climate discourse. [working title]

Completed PhD Students

Antonio Ballesteros Figueroa (Science, Technology and Innovation Studies): Contested Environmental Futures: Rankings, Forecasts and Indicators as Sociotechnical Endeavours. (2022)

Stuart Dunbar (Education): Young People’s Perspectives of Public Engagement with Science: a collaborative, intergenerational case study. (2020)

Daniel Thorpe (Science, Technology and Innovation Studies): Unbundling 'Indigenous Space Capability' - Actors, Policy Positions and Agency in Geospatial Information Science in Southwest Nigeria. (2019)