The information below is subject to change as the course is still being developed. The information will be made definite in June 2025.
Admission requirements
This course is part of the BSc Science for Sustainable Societies. The course is an obligatory course for students who are admitted to the BSc Science for Sustainable Societies. It has no further requirements.
Description
Science and technology are indispensable resources for addressing the grand challenges of our age, including sustainability. Yet, how can we understand the role of science and technology in modern societies and how they shape—and are shaped by—our social realities?
In this course, we introduce students to key ideas in Science and Technology Studies (STS), that claim scientific knowledge is not produced in a vacuum: the very questions scientists ask, the research that gets funded, and the technologies that get developed are shaped by cultural contexts, power structures, economic interests, and global inequalities. From the funding mechanisms that determine which scientific questions get explored, to the sometimes fraught relations between scientific communities and industrial stakeholders, we will unpack how knowledge is created, deployed and contested around contemporary sustainability science and technology.
This leads us to explore, for instance, how scientific traditions co-evolve with various stakeholders, how technological developments interact with social practices, and why a purely curiosity-driven approach to science is no longer sufficient. Students will be introduced to a number of themes, including global disparities in scientific knowledge production, power dynamics between science and industry, challenges of collaborative research across different cultures of research, and the growing imperative for responsible research and innovation.
By engaging with case studies ranging from agroecology and agricultural research to honeybee health and gene editing, you will develop critical thinking skills that go beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. You will learn to see science not just as a method of understanding the world, but as a dynamic, socially embedded practice that has profound implications for our collective future.
The course will prime students for the second-year courses Responsible Research and Innovation, Pollution and Power, and Research Design.
Course objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, you are able to:
Content:
Recall and identify the range of stakeholders that play a role in scientific work related to agro-food sustainability
Describe the influence of social, political, and economic factors on research trajectories within sustainability research, particularly regarding funding of research.
Compare key differences between interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity as set out in science and technology studies (STS) literature.
Explain and apply STS arguments about uncertainty and risk in science and technology in contemporary societies.
Describe arguments within STS that science is embedded in society and that scientists hold societal and ethical responsibilities as a result.
Apply theories and frameworks from STS (e.g. frames) to identify, label and explain empirical data.
Methods/skills:
Critically read the syllabus and extract the main message from a text
Writing a fact sheet reporting qualitative data and present it orally to a stakeholder group (role play).
Relate and compare academic social science arguments, with the ability to identify relationships and differences between them.
Mode of instruction
This course has in-person lectures and in-person practical sessions.
Preparation before classes and active participation in classes are fundamental for the success of our programme. In Science for Sustainable Societies we stimulate discussions and participation in classes so that everyone can bring and share their experience, values, and opinions with their peers. For this reason, there is a mandatory attendance. Please see the course manual on Brightspace for the specific rules concerning attendance in this course.
If you have medical, family, or other personal circumstances that make it difficult to attend class, please contact the study advisor.
Assessment method
Assessment
This course has the following assessments:
Final exam (60%)
Group assignment (40%)
More information about these assessments will be provided on Brightspace.
Weighing
The final grade for the course is determined by the weighted average of above mentioned assessments. The minimum grade to pass a course is a 5.5. In uSis, this will be registered as a 6.0. Please note that final grades between a 5.45-5.49 will be rounded as a 5.0.
The minimum grade for a partial grade is a 5.0, unless otherwise stated.
Please note that the final grade is expressed as a number between 1 and 10, rounded to the nearest half. The rounding process is only applied at the end for the final calculation.
Resit
Inspection and feedback
Via Brightspace and/or in class, students are informed about when and how they can inspect their graded assessment and receive feedback.
Reading list
Sarah R Davies, Science Societies, Bristol University Press, 2025.
Several selected papers, see weekly schedule below
Science Skills Platform on Brightspace, module Presentation
Registration
All first-year bachelor students will be registered by the Student Services Centre (SSC) for the lectures, tutorials, and the exam (excluding re-sits) of the courses offered in the first semester. For the second semester courses and all re-sits students must register themselves for all course components (lectures, tutorials, exams, and re-sits) in MyStudyMap. You can register up to 5 days prior to the start of a course and up to 10 days prior to an exam or re-sit.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enroll for courses in MyStudyMap.
For more information about the procedures and deadlines, see the enrolment procedure.
Please note:
It is mandatory to enroll for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/re-sit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/re-sit.
Brightspace
Brightspace is the digital learning environment of Leiden University.
Brightspace gives access to course announcements and electronic study material. Assignments will also be submitted in Brightspace. Announcements about and changes to courses are made using Brightspace. Students are advised to check Brightspace daily to remain informed about rooms, schedules, deadlines, and details of assignments. Lecturers assume that all students read information posted on Brightspace.
The homepage for Brightspace is: Brightspace
Please log in with your ULCN-account and personal password. On the left you will see an overview of My Courses.
You need to be enrolled for the respective courses to access them on Brightspace.
Contact
Course coordinator: Alex Rushforth
Study advisors: Kiki Boomgaard and Marisa Beunk
Remarks
BYOD and software
The BSc Science for Sustainable Societies has a ‘Bring Your Own Device’ policy. The Faculty of Science uses the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.