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Manufacturing and Materials in Society

About us

Innovation in manufacturing and materials does not only transform science and engineering but may equally affect their relations with society and culture.

New technical and theoretical approaches to discovery, design, testing and implementation may equally enable the development of new forms of participation, for example, the contribution economy, and accountability, for example, ethics frameworks.

Understanding and appreciating these changes requires social science and humanities research. We are interested in critical research challenges such as:

  • What does it mean to 'deliver benefits' for society?
  • What proactive contributions can social science and humanities research make to the development of new forms of engagement across the science-society interface?

Contact: Professor Noortje Marres


Our work

Below is a selection of projects we have supported.

Are you working on a related project? Does your research align with our themes? Get involved and join our research network today.

Creating the possible

We bring together researchers from Monash University and the University of Warwick. Our aim is to find new research methodologies. For example, combining creative studies, computer science and scientific methods.

Inventing indicators of interdisciplinarity

Our project collaborates with the University of Leiden. We are focusing on the study of interdisciplinary research.

Surfacing social aspects of driverless cars with creative methods

We ran a workshop on the social aspects of driverless cars. We brought together a range of expertise to discuss how to encourage public engagement with driverless cars.

Issue mapping online

Issue mapping online is a new way to analyse topical affairs. Our research into this technique aims to give instructions and examples to social and cultural researchers. All so they can employ issue mapping in their research.