STEP at Virginia Tech

STEP FORWARD

The Coronavirus pandemic is shining a bright light on the critical importance of science-policy interactions. We depend upon the models and advice of medical and other experts and put significant hope in researchers finding a cure. Yet, decision-making around matters ranging from when stores and schools can reopen to where to allocate medical and other assets are necessarily also informed by social, economic, and other factors. It is clear that scientists, engineers, and other technical experts have central roles to play in public policy. The STEP Program offers STEM-H students the approaches and skills to work with other sectors of society to achieve fair, efficient, stable, and wise solutions. Challenges and opportunities at the science-policy interface are not unique to the Coronavirus. Virtually all of today’s social, environmental, and economic challenges demand solutions that draw on expertise from multiple disciplines and take the interests and knowledge of affected stakeholders into account.

In the spirit of Ut Prosim, Virginia Tech students, faculty and staff are leaders in using their technical knowledge to tackle complex problems. The Science, Technology and Engineering in Policy (STEP) program builds on that excellence and commitment to service. The STEP program enhances the capacities of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and health care (STEM-H) graduate students to be effective participants and collaborators in policy processes. The program develops participants’ abilities to engage with complex public problems, recognizing that they are social and technical in nature. Program goal: Develop and enhance STEM-H students’ understanding of policy processes and capacity to integrate scientific and engineering knowledge with public policy reasoning.

Target audience: Graduate students from non-policy (primarily STEM-H) disciplines.