UC Riverside has received a nearly half-million-dollar grant from the National Science Foundation to build on a program training graduate students in science communication and create a national framework for science policy training.

For six years, the Science to Policy program, or S2P, has offered a certificate course providing students the tools and skills to effectively communicate with policymakers and promote science-informed public policy.

The $498,498 grant, which starts Oct. 1, builds on the certificate program with the “Science to Policy: Operationalizing Knowledge from Education to Society,” or SPOKES, project, which will be developed over three years.

Science to Policy director Susan Hackwood will lead a team piloting a new version of the certificate course that will include UCR-designed science-policy learning modules and host an annual summit with policy professionals. Those experts will help refine the certificate training course and result in the publication of a framework that is expected to establish a national standard for science to policy education that can be shared with other institutions.

Hackwood has a long history of working to improve science policy training. She was founding dean of the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering, or BCOE, in 1990 and, as executive director of the California Council on Science and Technology, she established a science and technology policy fellowship program for recent doctoral graduates.

Hackwood said there’s a need to help graduate students leverage their research skills and technical knowledge in the policy world where scientific issues and national or regional challenges converge. Doing so provides students more career opportunities and brings more scientific knowledge to key policy issues, she said.

“This grant will give us the means of assessing the value of the S2P initiative, using formative and summative evaluation methods,” Hackwood said. “There will also be strong push from the UC system to do this on other campuses and to take the model nationwide.”

Along with Hackwood, the project leaders include Richard Carpiano, a professor of public policy and faculty director forS2P; Richard Edwards, director of the XCITE Center for Teaching and Learning; Annika Speer, professor of teaching in the Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production; and Benjamin Stewart, director of special initiatives for BCOE.

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside, who has hosted multiple S2P fellows in his office, congratulated UCR on the recognition and thanked Hackwood for spearheading the program.

“The University of California, Riverside’s Science to Policy program prepares STEM professionals to shape public policy,” he said. “Their bold vision has earned them a nearly half-million-dollar grant from the National Science Foundation to expand their work. Legislators need the expertise of professionals to tackle challenges like legislating AI, pushing a climate conscious environmental plan, and preparing for the future of innovation.”