James Wilsdon is Professor of Science and Democracy at SPRU (Science & Technology Policy Research), University of Sussex, and an Associate Fellow at NESTA, the foundation for innovation. From 2008 to 2011, he was the founding Director of the Science Policy Centre at the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, where he oversaw influential studies on topics such as geoengineering, food security, science diplomacy, open science, and the prospects for science in the Islamic world. He also led the Royal Society's evidence gathering and advocacy for investment in research through the 2010 UK General Election and subsequent Spending Review.

Prior to this, Wilsdon was Head of Science and Innovation (2004-2008) and Head of Strategy (2001-2004) at the think tank Demos, and Senior Policy Adviser (1997-2001) at the sustainability NGO Forum for the Future. At Demos, he was also project director of The Atlas of Ideas, a two-year study of science in emerging economies, described by the Financial Times as ‘the most comprehensive analysis yet of science and innovation in China, India and South Korea.’ From 2006 to 2008, he was a part-time Senior Research Fellow at Lancaster University's Institute for Advanced Studies.

He has researched and written widely on science policy, emerging technologies and the globalization of research, and his publications include The Scientific Century (2010), The Atlas of Ideas (2007), China: the next science superpower? (2007), The Public Value of Science (2005) and See-through Science (2004). He reviews regularly for the Financial Times and Times Higher Education, and has also written for Nature, The Guardian, China Daily, Green Futures, OpenDemocracy and SEED.

Follow James on twitter @jameswilsdon

His publications include:

• 'Public Engagement in Science: A report to the Portugese Presidency Conference on The future of Science and Technology in Europe', European Commission, October 2007
• The Disrupters: Lessons for low-carbon innovation from the new wave of environmental pioneers (with R Willis and M Webb), NESTA, July 2007
• The Atlas of Ideas: Europe and Asia in the new geography of science and innovation (with C Leadbeater et al), Demos, 2007
• The Atlas of Ideas: How Asian innovation can benefit us all (with C Leadbeater), Demos, 2007
• China: the next science superpower? (with J Keeley), Demos, 2007
• The New Geography of Innovation: India, Finland, Science and Technology (with K Bound et al.), Sitra Report 71, Sitra, Finland
• The Asian Century: opportunities and challenges for the UK (with R Harrison), Advanced Institute of Management Research, 2006
• The new geography of science: UK research and international collaboration (with J Adams), Evidence Ltd., 2006
• Governing at the nanoscale: people, policies and emerging technologies (with M Kearnes and P Macnaghten), Demos, 2006
• Better Humans? The politics of human enhancement and life extension (edited with P Miller), Demos, 2006
• The Future of Technology Assessment (with M Rodemeyer & D Sarewitz) Woodrow Wilson Centre, Washington DC, 2005
• The Public Value of Science: or how to ensure that science really matters (with B Wynne and J Stilgoe), Demos, 2005
• Policymaking for posterity: how to make the long term more visible in the here and now, Defra/Demos, 2005
• See-through Science: why public engagement needs to move upstream (with R Willis), Demos, 2004
• From Bio to Nano: Learning the Lessons, Interrogating the comparisons (with R Grove-White, M Kearnes, P Macnaghten, B Wynne), Demos/Lancaster University, 2004
• Broadband Britain: the end of asymmetry (Demos, 2004)
• Masters of the Universe: science, politics and the new space race (Demos, 2004)
• The Adaptive State: strategies for personalising the public realm (Demos, 2003)
• Carrots, sticks and sermons: influencing public behaviour for environmental goals (with R Willis & G Thomas), Demos/Defra, 2003
• 'Technology, risk and the environment ' in Anthony Giddens (ed.) The Progressive Manifesto, Polity Press, 2003
• Virtual Vice: the use and abuse of the internet (with P Miller), BT/Demos, 2003
• The Politics of Bandwidth: network innovation and regulation in broadband Britain (with D Stedman Jones) Demos, 2002
• Monarchies: what are kings and queens for? (Demos, 2002)
• Digital Futures : living in a networked world, (Earthscan, 2001)

His articles include:

• 'Building a bright continent: can prioritizing science catalyze Africa's efforts to join the global economy?' SEED magazine, May/June 2008
• 'At last, real creative spark' - comment on the DIUS white paper 'Innovation Nation', Times Higher Education, 27 March 2008
• 'The way to go'  - a review of recent books on death and aging, Financial Times, 23 February 2008
• 'Medicine Men' A review of Alternative Medicine? A history by Roberta Bivins, Financial Times, 20 October 2007
• 'Islamic innovation is finally on a rising crescent', Financial Times, 19 October 2007
• 'China can lead the world in innovation', China Daily, 11 September 2007
• 'The rules of engagement: dialogue and democracy in creating nanotechnology futures' (with J Stilgoe) in  Nanoethics: the Ethical and Social Implications of Nanotechnology, Edited by F Allhoff et al. (Wiley, 2007)
• 'Innovation needs some fresh ideas' Times Higher Education Supplement, 13 July 2007
• 'The new geography of science' (with C Leadbeater), E!Sharp, March-April 2007
• 'The next science superpower', IET Engineering and Technology, March 2007
• 'Asian economies herald a new dawn of technological innovation' (with C Leadbeater), The Times, 17 January 2007
• 'From Bio to Nano: Learning Lessons from the UK Agricultural Biotechnology Controversy' (with M Kearnes et  al), Science as Culture Vol. 15, No. 4. 291-307, December 2006
• 'A new geography for research collaboration' (with J Adams), Research Fortnight, 27 September 2006
• 'The science lobby is getting it wrong on innovation', Financial Times, 3 November 2006
• 'Artificial intelligence' (review of Stefan Collini's Absent Minds), Financial Times, 4 March 2006
• ‘Stop bleating about the threat from India and China' The Quarter, Prospect Magazine, March 2006
• ‘The man who wants to live forever' (with P Miller, a profile of Aubrey de Grey) OpenDemocracy.net, 3 February 2006
• ‘Who would not seize the chance to live to 150?’ Financial Times, February 2006
• ‘Am I Bovvered? A debate on engagement vs accountability’ Research Fortnight, 12 October 2005
• ‘Do not fear the rise of world-class science in Asia’ (with C Leadbeater) Financial Times, 12 October 2005
• ‘Small talk: new ways of democratising science and technology’ OpenDemocracy.net, 27 September 2005
• ‘Political science’ (a review of Sheila Jasanoff’s Designs on Nature) Financial Times, 10 September 2005
• ‘Scientists need to reconnect with the people’, Financial Times, 5 September 2005
• 'Peer Review ' (a review of “The March of Unreason” by Dick Taverne), Financial Times, 16 April 2005
• ‘A deeper shade of green?’ Renewal Vol. 12 No 4, 2004)
• ‘Dialogue is moving upstream’ Science and Public Affairs, The BA, December 2004
• ‘Techno Probe ', The Guardian, 1 September 2004
• ‘Bangalore or Bust?’ Green Futures, July/August 2004
• ‘The Politics of Small Things: nanoscience, risk and democracy’, Renewal Vol. 12 No. 2
• ‘Nanotech needs to listen to its public, and now’, Financial Times, 1 September 2004
• ‘Mission to Planet Rumsfeld ', The Guardian, 1 March 2004
• ‘The Well-Slept Society’ (with C Leadbeater) Green Futures, November/December 2003
• ‘Space: sustainability’s new frontier?’ Green Futures, November/December 2003
• ‘Rules of Engagement’, The Parliamentary Monitor, Special issue on science and technology, October 2003
• ‘The Civil Corporation’, Green Futures, September 2001
• ‘Greening the New Economy’, Business 2.0, Issue 10, February 2001
• ‘Making Sense of Sustainability’, (with J Porritt) Environmental Scientist, Vol. 9 No.6, Nov-Dec 2000

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