Addressing the challenge of producing scientific evidence that makes sense to policy

Coursebooks

“Addressing the challenge of producing scientific evidence that makes sense to policy” is an accredited doctoral course offered to EPFL PhD students. It is organised by the International Risk Governance Center (IRGC).

 

IRGC helps to improve the understanding and governance of systemic risks that have impacts on human health and safety, the environment, the economy and society at large. IRGC’s mission includes developing risk governance concepts and providing risk governance policy advice to decision-makers in the private and public sectors on key emerging or neglected issues.

For a list of topics the IRGC is working on, click here.


Content

The IRGC course is offered on the basis of the International Risk Governance Center’s work plan. The purpose of the course is to confront PhD students with the reality of policymaking and the difficulty of providing scientific information relevant to policy.

For more information, please send an email to [email protected].

Format

Students participate in the preparation of an expert workshop, in particular through research for a briefing paper. They then attend a two-day interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder expert workshop. Finally, they produce a paper, focusing on evidence-based policy recommendations. In total, the course is spread over 3 to 6 months.

Course Information

Credits
This course awards 2 academic credits. To receive credit, it is mandatory to demonstrate participation in the research prior to the workshop, to participate in the workshop and to contribute to the workshop report.
Form of exam
In order to earn course credits, the expected outcome is the contribution to the project work as described above under ‘credits’. Two individual written contributions.
Language
The official language of the course is English.
Size of the class
The maximum number of participants is 3 per project/topic.
Coursebook
Click here to read the coursebook.

Contact

EPFL International Risk Governance Center (IRGC)
Château de Bassenges (BAC)
Station 5, CH-1015 Lausanne
Phone: +41 21 693 82 90

For any questions please contact [email protected].


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