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The 'geography of science'- a fast growing field of academic enquiryÌý - has been given a major boost by Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê academics.

Researchers from Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Science & Technology Studies and Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Geography have secured major ESRC funding to hold a series of five seminars over two years.

The geography of science, or how location affects the production, circulation and consumption of science, has, until now largely been studied in isolation. This series of seminars - 'Locating Technoscience: The Geographies of Science, Technology and Politics' - will address this by bringing together researchers from science and technology studies and human geography. The series of seminars is also timely, as concerns about the geographies of science and technology are at the forefront of much debate and feature prominently in the activities of government, industry and civil society.

Dr Brian Balmer (Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Science & Technology Studies), who along with Dr Gail Davies (Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Geography) and Dr Charles Thorpe (Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Science & Technology Studies), was instrumental in securing the funding said: "It's a fantastic opportunity for opening interdisciplinary dialogue between people working in human geography and social studies of science. Academics in the two fields increasingly make cross-references between the disciplines, but rarely have the chance to share their different perspectives in person. We are very excited by the response to the seminar series and are expecting 75 people at the first seminar and even have a waiting list."

The programme began at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê on 11 April 2006 with 'Making Space for Science', which addressed the interdisciplinary challenges of conceptualising the geography of scientific knowledge through a series of keynote speeches and workshops. Further seminars will take place at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Sussex before returning to Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê in July 2007 for the final instalment: 'Geographies of Power and Responsibility'.

To find out more about the seminar programme, use the link at the bottom of this article.

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