School of Social and Political Science

Research interests

Niki Vermeulen specialises in science and innovation policy and the organisation of research, with an emphasis on collaboration in the life sciences. She investigates the entanglement of epistemic and social transformations, analysing new ways of doing research as well as the political and institutional structures in which research is performed. Thereby she is working to integrate scientometrics research into qualitative research approaches to understand the dynamics of collaboration (together with CWTS, Leiden University), while she has also developed a particular interest in the geography and architecture of collaboration, investigating the places in and across which people are working together.

Research into collaboration is embedded in broader knowledge of developments in research and innovation policy. Research subjects in this area include the changing roles of universities; innovative clusters; research infrastructures; projectification of science; evaluation of research; responsible metrics; and careers of (young) researchers.

Niki is founder of Curious Edinburgh creating app-based walking tours showcasing scientific and cultural heritage in Edinburgh: see www.curiousedinburgh.org.

Background

Niki Vermeulen holds a PhD (2009) in Science and Technology Studies from Maastricht University, The Netherlands, was a Marie Curie research fellow in the Science and Technology Studies Unit at the University of York (2004), lecturer/researcher in the Department of the Social Studies of Science, University of Vienna (2009-2012), and Wellcome Trust research fellow in the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine of the University of Manchester (2012-2014).

Since 2015, Niki is a visiting researcher at the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) of Leiden University, contributing to the development of an international strategic partnerships between the Universities of Edinburgh and Leiden, e.g. through joint PhD supervision. In the past she has been a visiting scholar at the Centre for Society and Life Sciences of the Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, the Depertmant of Sociology of the University of Madison-Wisconsin, USA, the Institut für Kulturwissenschaft, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Health Research of the University of Augsburg. During her sabbatical in 2022 she is an EHESS guest professor at UMR Géographie-cités, CNRS in Paris and a DAAD research fellow at the Museum für Naturkunde and the Institut für Europäische Ethnologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Niki is a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh's Young Academy of Scotland (YAS), the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S) and the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) for which she is editor of the EASST Review and adopted Council Member.

Next to her academic positions, she has experience as a policy advisor and consultant in science and innovation policy, working for Technopolis Group, the Executive Board of Maastricht University, the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), and the Scientific Council of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Washington DC, USA. She is currently a member of the ESRC/Innovate UK 'Innovation Caucus' and Marine Scotland's delivery group of Scotland’s marine science strategy on behalf of YAS.

Current Projects

Geographies of Collaboration (RSE Saltire Award)

The GEOCOLLAB research network (with Marion Maisobe & Morgan Meyer) aims to advance our understanding of international scientific collaboration and mobility, with a focus between Scotland and France. The network assembles scholars from the University of Edinburgh and CNRS Paris working at the nexus of quantitative geography and science and technology studies (STS). Based on our previous interactions and current shared research interest in the biosciences (specifically marine biology -focussing on seaweed research and innovation- and genetic engineering focussing on synthetic biology and gene editing), the network will allow us to 1) develop a common vocabulary and methodology to study the (inter)national dissemination and exchange of scientific knowledge and 2) trace the ‘placing’ of scientific fields: examining how practices and discourses of scientific disciplines co-emerge with their geographic modes of organisation. The network has direct policy relevance, building capacity and giving insight in patterns of (inter)national scientific collaboration and the ways in which they may be disrupted or fostered by changes in international relations (e.g. Brexit). GEOCOLLAB is bringing together scholars from Scotland and France who work at the interface between geography, Science and Technology Studies and scientometrics, a combination which will lead to improved understanding of the geography of scientific work and its (inter)national relations.

Architectures of Collaboration (various funding sources)

In line with the work of the network Architectures of Science, I am exploring the architecture of collaboration in various contexts, including the Francis Crick Institute, the Edinburgh Future Institute, the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin and Institutes of Advanced Studies. I am investigating the history, transformation and present functioning of these institutes, and how ways of working together interact with the built environment and (urban) landscapes. Special attention is given to the material embedding of interaction inside buildings and the permeability of the walls, e.g. openness to publics. Edinburgh is functioning as a playground to develop various approaches to the architecture of collaboration, connecting my work on Curious Edinburgh to new developments as part of Data Driven Innovation, e.g. working on the transformation of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, with colleagues Matjaz Vidmar, Bill Jenkins, Ellen Stewart and Ruth Honeybone (LSHA). In addition, I am a member of Writing Urban Places, which explores narrative methods to develop human understanding of communities, their society, and their situatedness.

Curious Edinburgh (various funding sources)

Curious Edinburgh is a website and mobile phone app which tells stories behind the cities many historic buildings and places. Originally developed to make large-scale undergraduate teaching more interactive and ‘bring the classroom into the city’, we started with tours showcasing the importance of Edinburgh's scientific and medical heritage in an innovative way. The project adds a spatial dimension to the history of science by linking ideas, inventions and scientist to physical places in the city of Edinburgh. Thereby it allows scholars to connect their work to specific places that develop through time, and it invites novel historical and sociological analysis of the interaction between the scientific process, its materiality and geography. As the format allows to tell a variety of stories about the city, we now also cover tours on Edinburgh’s international connections and its vibrant local communities, paying attention to diversity, equality and civic action. Content is sourced from a wide variety of research projects across the University of Edinburgh and community archives, bringing diverse knowledge on Edinburgh together in one space, while making it accessible for students, staff as well as Edinburgh's citizens and visitors. Curious Edinburgh won the Tam Dalyell Prize for Excellence in Engaging the Public with Science (2018). See for acknowledgments of many individuals and organisations who contributed to this project our webpage.

Coastal knowledge (RSE Young Academy Scotland)

With the marine (social) science group of the Young Academy Scotland we have developed an interactive map exhibition of Scotland’s Coasts. Delivered in collaboration with Granton Hub and Curious Edinburgh, this initiative provides windows into Scottish coastal communities, providing various actors (researchers, artists, community organisations and inhabitants of coastal communities) the possibility to showcase their visual and narrative perspectives on the Scottish coast. See: https://www.youngacademyofscotland.org.uk/coastal-knowledge/

EVALUATE project (Erasmus+/British Council)

Developing a Framework for Evaluation of International University Partnerships, the project aims to improve the quality of International Strategic Partnerships between universities through evaluation and mutual learning. The project brings together a range of universities with varying experience in developing and delivering all types of partnerships to collaboratively develop a methodology that can be used to evaluate and continually improve the quality of partnerships that universities and similar organisations are involved in. The project reviews existing models for evaluation in similar settings and develops an evaluation framework within the university setting for International Strategic Partnerships. Traditionally this could involve student and staff mobility, research collaboration, collaborative teaching provision, joint appointments of staff, network development and participation, commercialisation of research and funding relationships for teaching & research. However, there is a drive towards innovation in this area of work so it is important to ensure that models for evaluation can be flexible and adapted to suit new purposes. International Strategic Partnerships are seen as investments that will bring some benefit to the institutions involved, but the evidence-base for this is often lacking. This project will enable institutions to determine how International Strategic Partnerships are performing and highlight areas for development.

Partners: University of Edinburgh, University College Dublin, University of Copenhagen, Leiden University, University of Helsinki and University of Sydney.

Completed Projects

Following the life of a research institute: a biography of the Francis Crick (Wellcome Trust seed grant)

Given the prominence of the £700 Million, 93000 m2 Francis Crick Institute, its (inter)national uniqueness, and the availability of British scholars analysing knowledge creation and translation, it seems timely to study this experiment in the organisation of biomedical science as it unfolds. Unsurprisingly, first media analyses are debating the Crick, with proponents seeing its 'bigness' as progress while opponents fear uprooting of current practice. Both positions are unnuanced and not evidence-based, as academic analysis shows not one ‘right’ way to organise science with collaboration being content and context dependent. Consequently, the influence of research institutes on the integrative production of knowledge can still be further explored. This project studies the birth of the Crick Institute and its new research strategy – discovery without boundaries. Key goals are: a) mapping the (spatial) design and initial functioning of the Crick; b) exploring the ways in which it provides new opportunities for interdisciplinary knowledge creation; c) design a longitudinal and reflexive study of a biomedical institute. The project contributes to advancement of knowledge on the functioning of research institutes, while the magnitude of societal investment and its importance for human health adds urgency to this opportunity.

The emergence of systems biology (Wellcome Trust research fellowship)

As a Wellcome research fellow I have been working on the emergence of systems biology as a new field, shedding light on the recent history of the biosciences, and the ways in which different disciplines become reconfigured. Special attention is given to different local and national patterns of emergence, fashions in science policy, and the shaping of international collaboration. The study into the intellectual and social history of systems biology will help us draft the history of new biology and its relation to research policies, funding structures, university transformation, etc. in a way which can inform policy discussions and public understanding of contemporary science. In addition, the interaction between actors and social scientists will be analysed, showing (and improving) the reflexiveness of these developments.

Bio-Objects (COST Action)

Since 2005 I have been involved in the development of the concept of bio-objects, co-founding a network of young researchers which culminated in the European COST action ‘Bio-objects and their Boundaries: Governing Matters at the Intersection of Society, Politics, and Science’ (2010-2014). I have more recently employed this approach to investigate the making of bio-printed organs in collaboration with Gill Haddow and scientists Will Shu and Alan Faulkner-Jones and at the moment looking at choreographies of research and innovation in algae/seaweed in Scotland, also using a bio-objects lense.

PhD topics and programmes

Find out more about the programmes that I am involved with:

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

Current PhD Candidates

*Fiona Coyle 'Mitigating Modification: Understanding the Societal and Ethical Implications of the Regulation of New and Emerging Biomedical Technologies in the UK Context 2006-2018' (with Gill Haddow)

*Louis Volkmer 'Transferring Scientific Objects: unpacking the intellectual ownership of scientific apparatus transferred from universities to museums' (with Dominic Berry and Tacye Phillipson & Rebekah Higgitt, National Museum of Scotland)

*Kate Bowell 'Science on display: the historical relationships between exhibit label texts, scientific objects, and technologies at National Museums Scotland' (with Lawrence Dritsas and Tacye Phillipson & Rebekah Higgitt, National Museum of Scotland)

*Julie-Ann Fooshee 'Festivals as Laboratory: experimentation in temporal and geographic barriers to create accessibility' (with Eugenia Rodrigues)

*Mayline Strouk 'Free as a bird? Geography of seabird ornithologists' mobilities to the field in the Anthropocene' (with Rob Smith, Thomas Franssen and Sarah de Rijcke, CWTS)

*Marta Sienkiewicz 'New evaluative tools as devices on the academic market(s)' (based at CWTS with Thomas Franssen, Sarah de Rijcke and Andrew Millar)

Completed dissertations

*Rodrigo Liscovsky Barrera 'Internationalisation Dynamics in Contemporary South American Life Sciences. The Case of Zebrafish' (with Tod Van Gunten & Alfredo Yegros, CWTS)

*Rosalind Attenborough 'Finding virtue in open science? Biological scientists' constructions of openness in historical, advocacy and policy contexts' (with James Mittra)

*Matjaz Vidmar 'UK/Scottish Space Sector and Innovation' (with Alessandro Rosiello & Robin Williams)

Undergraduate Teaching and Postgraduate Teaching

After my arrival in Edinburgh in 2014, I have taken over the UG History of Science course from John Henry (2014-2016), while also developing the Responsible Researcher course. In addition, I am lecturing on Investigating Science in Society (semester 1) and Science, Nature and Environment (semester 2).

Till 2022 I have been convening the PG course Social Dimensions of Systems and Synthetic Biology (semester 2), while also supervising the final thesis of students from MSc SaTiS.

Other Teaching Activities

I have previously taught in the STS Master programme of the Department of Social Studies of Science (University of Vienna), the History of Science, Technology and Medicine programme (University of Manchester), and the Arts and Sciences programme, the European Studies programme and the European Society, Science and Technology (ESST) Master programme of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (Maastricht University).