382 Informal STEM Education (
PDF 313 KB)Four page POSTnote, June 2011
Informal STEM education takes place outside the classroom environment. It aims to inspire students through hands-on, experience-based activities that can enrich and add value to their school experiences. Initiatives range from those at national level, to more localised ones often made possible through small public engagement grants. Informal STEM education takes place in many contexts, from universities, learned societies and science museums, to after school and local nature clubs, as well as in the home. This POSTnote describes the informal sector‟s links to formal STEM education and its contribution to the national STEM learning agenda. It complements a forthcoming note on STEM education for 14-19 year olds.
359 - EU Science & Technology Funding ( PDF 189 KB)
Four page POSTnote, June 2010
The EU Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7) is the world’s largest research programme with a total budget of €53.2 billion. Based on past performance, FP7 could be worth over €7billion to the UK, about €1 billion a year. The development process of the next FP, which will replace FP7 in 2014, is underway. This POSTnote explains the FP system and current developments.
Science in the New Parliament ( PDF 277 KB)
Special four page briefing, May 2010
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) is the UK Parliament’s in-house source of briefing and analysis on policy issues with a basis in science and technology. After every general election, POST produces a special briefing highlighting some of the main science-based issues that the new Parliament is likely to encounter. Some have already been covered by POST in its series of regular briefings for parliamentarians (POSTnotes) and others will be the subject of future notes.
340 - The Dual-use Dilemma ( PDF 111 KB)
Four page POSTnote, July 2009
Science is primarily used to benefit humanity, but it can be misused, presenting scientists and others with an ethical quandary known as the dual-use dilemma. This note examines three scientific areas posing a significant risk of misuse and considers how to tackle dual-use dilemmas in these and other areas.
332 - Futures and Foresight ( PDF 114 KB)
Four page POSTnote, May 2009
In 2007, the Commons Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) suggested that Parliament strengthen its capacity to think ahead and engage with outside experts and the wider public. This POSTnote examines the key characteristics of futures work and its current use by governments and parliaments. It covers futures work at national and local levels, and the extent to which it needs to consider social and other trends alongside developments in science and technology.
323 - Lessons from History ( PDF 154 KB)
Four page POSTnote, January 2009
In the past decade, the government has repeatedly emphasised the importance of taking an "evidence-based" approach to policy-making. In 2006, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee welcomed the government's progress in integrating scientific evidence into decision making. However, despite increasing use of evidence from the natural and social sciences, evidence from humanities disciplines such as history is not widely used. This POSTnote considers how history could help to inform decisions on key scientific and technological policy issues.