Postgraduate Course: Risk, Regulation and Governance II (PGSP11337)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Postgrad (School of Social and Political Studies) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | Issues of risk, governance and regulation have had a particular resonance in a range of life science sectors. Indeed, processes of regulation and risk management are a core component of most life science industries and shape the very nature of innovation. It is essential for students wanting training in core competencies and broader knowledge and understanding of the bioeconomy to be acquainted with systemic issues around risk governance and regulation as they apply to different sectors within the life sciences. This course, which is a continuation from RGR-I, is an essential component of the BIG Programme and provides in-depth knowledge and understanding, through rich case studies from the contributors¿ long-standing expertise and research findings in the field, of how regulation and risk-governance processes have impacted on life science-based innovations in the health, agriculture and environmental sectors. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: 16 |
Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
13/01/2014 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
88 )
|
| Additional Notes |
|
| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. The key aim of this course is to explore, largely through empirical case studies, challenges for risk governance and regulation of the life sciences and key emerging areas of the global bio-economy; including health, agriculture and environment.
In addition to exploring some concrete issues of risk governance and regulation in the context of commercial R&D processes, regulations for new products that do not fit neatly into conventional risk governance processes, food security, environmental risk, and transnational corporate governance; students will also be introduced to various methodological approaches to risk governance and regulation and engage with key foresight/scenario planning skills necessary to mitigate known and potential risks that emerge within different industries of the bioeconomy. The latter will be developed in the classroom through case study analysis in which students will work together to identify the key risk issues for a particular life science risk field; estimate geographical scale and scope, identify distribution of risks, benefits and uncertainty; and consider processes of stakeholder involvement and subsequent management responses.
2. By the end of this course students will:
¿ Have a clear understanding based in key theories and concepts of how risk governance and regulatory regimes function in different sectors of the bioeconomy, and be able to critically evaluate the potential of different risk-benefit models for product and process innovations.
¿ Be able to analyse and appraise the systemic role of regulation in both early and late stage R&D, and be able to think critically about the broader governance of life science innovation and role different stakeholders can play in risk management.
¿ Have developed specific knowledge and understanding of the different methods for studying risk governance and regulation, as well as key skills in foresight/scenario planning to identify known and potential risks and develop strategies to mitigate them within different sectors of the bioeconomy.
¿ Appreciate the distinctiveness of regulatory and governance processes in the life sciences as opposed to those within other industries, such as Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). |
Assessment Information
| Assessment will be a final essay of 3000 words on a topic to be agreed between the student and the course convener. This might be a conventional research paper, literature review, or the application of a risk governance process for a new or existing life science technology or product. The assessment might also be an exercise in foresight or scenario planning in a specific area of the bioeconomy. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
The majority of the students for this course will be those from the new BIG MSc programme, but it will also be offered to other programmes within STIS, the GPHU as well as being offered to those students on the doctoral training programme. It will have particular appeal to those students throughout the school with an interest in the life science sectors and wanting greater knowledge and understanding of risk, regulation and governance. This course will also be an attractive option to students on Programmes throughout the School of Social and Political Science where there is an interest in innovation and strategic decision-making including the MSc in Science and Technology Studies, the MSc in African Studies and the MSc in Carbon Management offered by the School of GeoSciences and the Business School. |
| Syllabus |
WEEK TOPIC
1 Health Regulation and the Clinical Trial System
2 Regulatory Challenges for Advanced Therapies: The Need for 'Smart Regulation'?
3 Regulation of GMOs and Impact on the Agro-Biotechnology Industry
4 Role of Patients and other Stakeholders in Governance of Health Innovation: Social and Ethical Issues
5 Legal Challenges of Commercialisation and Governance of Biological Material |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Brevignon-Dodin, L. (2010) Regulatory Enablers and Regulatory Challenges for the Development of Tissue-Engineered Products in the EU, Bio-Medical Materials and Engineering (in press) DOI 10.3233/BME-2010-0623
Eriksson, L. and A. Webster (2008) Standardising the Unknown: Practical Pluripotency as Doable Futures, Science as Culture, 17 (1), pp. 57-69
Kuiper HA, Davies HV (2010) The SAFE FOODS risk analysis framework suitable for GMOs? A case study. Food Control 21: 1662-1676
Lovell-Badge, R. (2008) The Regulation of Human Embryo and Stem-Cell Research in the United Kingdom, Nat Rev Moll Cell Biol 9 (12), pp. 998-1003
Lyall C, Tait J (2005) New Modes of Governance: Developing an Integrated Policy Approach to Science, Technology, Risk and the Environment. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate
May, C.R. and N.T. Ellis (2001) When Protocols Fail: Technical Evaluation, Biomedical Knowledge, and the Social Production of Facts about a Telemedicine Clinic, Social Science and Medicine, 53, pp. 989-1002
Mittra, J. (2006) Genetic Exceptionalism and Precautionary Politics: Regulating for Uncertainty in Britain's Genetics and Insurance Policy Process', Science and Public Policy, 33 (8) pp. 585-600
Mittra, J., & Tait, J. (2009) Stem Cells, chapter for RiskBridge Report , SAS6-CT-2006-036661, pp. 224-268
Mittra, J. (2009) Riskbridge Conference Proceedings, Brussels, 26-27 March 2009
Parthasarathy, S (2004), Regulating Risk: Defining Genetic Privacy in the United States and Britain, Science, Technology and Human Values, 29 (3), pages 332-352.
Tait, J. (2007) Systemic Interactions in Life Science Innovation¿, Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 19 (2), pp. 257-277
Further reading material is provided in the course handbook uploaded to Learn.
Tait, J. And J. Chataway (2007) 'The Governance of Corporations, Technological Change and Risk: Examining Industrial Perspectives on the Development of Genetically Modified Crops' Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 25, pp. 21-37.
Tait, J. & R. Williams (1999) Policy Approaches to Research and Development: Foresight, Framework and Competitiveness, Science and Public Policy, 26 (2), pp. 101-112
Tait, J. & G. Barker (2011) Global Food Security and the Governance of Modern Biotechnologies, EMBO Reports 12, pp. 763-768 |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
The course will be delivered through a 5 week lecture and seminar discussion format. The two-hour sessions will typically consist of a short lecture (introducing the key themes of the week¿s topic and the core readings provided) followed by an hour and a quarter of classroom discussion, student-led presentations, and case study work.
Each week¿s class will typically cover conceptual, theoretical and empirical material related to the topic, and substantive use will be made of case-study material emerging from recent research findings of the teaching staff. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr James Mittra
Tel: (0131 6)50 2453
Email: james.mittra@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Jodie Fleming
Tel: (0131 6)51 5066
Email: Jodie.Fleming@ed.ac.uk |
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