Guide to Graduate Education in Science, Engineering and Public Policy

Harvard University

Harvard Kennedy School

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• Background
• Graduate Degrees Offered
• Admissions Requirements
• Degree Requirements
• Faculty Information
• Financial Information

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Background

Science, Technology, and Policy (STP) is one of the Policy Areas of Concentration (PACs) in the Kennedy School's Master in Public Policy degree program. A variety of courses in STP and related subjects are offered at the Kennedy School, and a large number of courses elsewhere at Harvard and at other schools in the Boston area are also of potential interest to STP students. STP courses are open to students in the Kennedy School’s other Masters Degree programs and to interested students from other universities.
The following issues and topics are among those addressed by STP courses:

• policy tools to nurture scientific and technological innovation needed for competitiveness, security, and sustainability;
• the development of national and international energy strategies, including strategies to meet the challenge of human-induced climatic disruption;
• the management of nuclear-energy and nuclear-weapons technologies;
• the shaping and management of the evolving global information infrastructure;
• approaches to determining the appropriate levels of public support for basic science and for science and engineering education.

Graduate Degrees Offered

Master in Public Policy- Concentration in Science, Technology, and Policy (STP)

Admissions Requirements

A complete application to the MPP program includes a submitted online application, payment of an $80 application fee, essays, three letters of recommendation, official academic transcripts, and standardized tests (GRE/TOEFL- requirements vary; see online application for details.)

Academic Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree. Some knowledge of college-level economics, statistics, and calculus is preferred.

Work Experience
Not required, but at least 2-3 years full-time professional experience preferred.

 

Degree Requirements

General Requirements for Kennedy School:
The MPP program requires two years (four terms) of full-time study in residence at HKS. MPP candidates complete eighteen units of academic credit, eight of which are required courses. MPP candidates also need to complete distribution requirements in Leadership and Financial Management. Of the remaining ten credits, two must be earned in a specific Policy Area of Concentration (this requirement is fulfilled within the STP requirements listed below)

Additional Requirements for Science, Technology and Policy:
Kennedy School of Government’s Master in Public Policy students who elect a formal concentration in STP  ordinarily take STP-100 in the fall of their first year and STP-150Y in both semesters of their second year. In the second year, at least one additional STP or STP-related course would be taken.. It is hoped that most STP concentrators will take additional STP-related courses beyond the 3-credit minimum.
In addition to the courses offered at the Kennedy School, students interested in science and technology policy will find a number of courses relevant to STP at other Harvard schools and at MIT and Tufts’ Fletcher School. (KSG students may cross-register at any of these.)

Faculty Information

Venkatesh "Venky" Narayanamurti -Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program; Co-Principal Investigator, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (ERD3) Policy Project
Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

"Venky" Narayanamurti is the John A. and Elizabeth S. Armstrong Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Physics at Harvard University.  He is also the Director of the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Nolan Bowie -Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program

Lewis M. Branscomb -Director Emeritus of the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program; Professor Emeritus of Public Policy and Corporate Management
Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Matthew Bunn -Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom; Co-Principal Investigator, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (ERD3) Policy Project
Member of the Board

Matthew Bunn is an Associate Professor at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.  His research interests include nuclear theft and terrorism; nuclear proliferation and measures to control it; and the future of nuclear energy and its fuel cycle. 

Kelly Sims Gallagher -Director, Energy Technology Innovation Policy
Adjunct Lecturer, Kennedy School of Government
Member of the Board

Kelly Sims Gallagher is Director of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group (ETIP) and Adjunct Lecturer of Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Sheila Jasanoff -Professor of Science and Public Policy

 Calestous Juma -Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa
Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Calestous Juma is Professor of the Practice of International Development and Director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project. He holds a Ph.D. in science and technology policy studies and has written widely on science, technology, and the environment.

Henry Lee -Director, Environment and Natural Resources Program
Co-Principal Investigator, Energy Technology Innovation Policy
Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Lecturer in Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government

Henry Lee is the Director of the Environment and Natural Resources Program. Before joining the School in 1979, Mr. Lee spent nine years in Massachusetts state government as Director of the State's Energy Office.

Dorothy Shore Zinberg -Lecturer in Public Policy

Dorothy Shore Zinberg is a Lecturer in Public Policy and a Faculty Associate in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard  Kennedy School. A founding member of the Belfer Center, she teaches "Issues in Science, Technology and Public Policy" at HKS.

 

 

Positions for Graduates

Most B.S. graduates from EPP pursue conventional engineering careers or go on to graduate school. Doctoral graduates are prepared for policy-oriented research careers in: research organizations, consulting firms,"think tanks" (~ 20 percent); government (~20 percent); industry (~20 percent); and academia (~40 percent.)

 

Financial Information

STPP offers fellowships for pre-doctoral and post-doctoral researchers for one year, with a possibility for renewal, in the stimulating environment of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Please see the Belfer Center’s fellowship web pages for information on stipends, deadlines, and application procedures.

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