Contact
Biography
Reiner Grundmann joined the University of Nottingham in September 2012 as Professor in Science and Technology Studies from Aston University where he was heading the Sociology department over many years.
Reiner received his first degree in Sociology from the Free University in Berlin and his PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute, Florence. He also obtained a German Habilitation from Bielefeld University. Before moving to the UK he was researcher at the Wissenschaftszentrum in Berlin (Germany) and at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (Cologne, Germany).
Research Summary
His main research interest is the relation between knowledge and decision making. In recent years he has been studying the public discourse on climate change where the role of scientific experts, lay… read more
Reiner is one of the co-authors of The Hartwell Paper, an international report published in May 2010 which calls for a radically different approach to climate policy. For more information, visit The Hartwell Paper website.
Reiner regularly contributes on the blog KLIMAZWIEBEL on issues related to climate science and policy. This blog is unique in that its main contributors are climate scientists and social scientists who manage the blog collectively.
Current Research
His main research interest is the relation between knowledge and decision making. In recent years he has been studying the public discourse on climate change where the role of scientific experts, lay audiences, decision makers and the mass media are crucially important. As various actors frame the issue in different ways, their use of language needs to be understood. Reiner has started to conduct cross national analyses of newspaper reporting on climate change in several countries.
Reiner also researches the social, political, and cultural dimensions of climate change. This includes the ethics of climate research (as exemplified in 'climategate'), the dilemmas of scientists between advocacy and honest brokering, the role of Sociology in the climate change debate, and the relevance of STS for all of this.
You can read some of Reiner's work at Academia.edu