Science, Technology and Engineering Policy (STEP) Group

Many of our most pressing public policy issues have a strong science and technology component, such as developing clean sources of energy to reduce dependence on foreign oil and using information technology to reduce medical errors and administrative costs in our healthcare system. However, elected officials often lack the technical expertise to make informed decisions on these issues and scientists and engineers rarely engage in the political process. The STEP group seeks to provide scientists with training to communicate effectively with a policy audience and understand the decision-making process in political institutions.

In its inaugural year (2005-2006), the STEP group organized a speaker series and technology policy white paper competition which brought in over twenty papers authored by fifty students. The winning papers received over $5,000 in cash prizes and the overall winner, a Chemical Engineering doctoral student who wrote a paper titled “Navigating to the Right Stem Cell Line”, received a trip to Washington DC to discuss his ideas with policymakers.

This year (2006-2007) STEP is continuing with the seminar series and white paper competition and is introducing a new collaboration with the CCST (California Council on Science and Technology).

Project mission:

Create better technology policy through collaborations between scientists, technologists and policy-makers.

Required resources:

1. Total project needs: $22,000
2. In-kind contribution needs: Food and beverage donations for STEP events
3. Other:

   Financial needs: Funds provide opportunities for students interested in science policy (eg. travel scholarship to visit Sacramento to engage in a project with the CCST, the California Council on Science and Technology ), cash prizes for the white paper competition and funds for our seminar series (eg. room and technology rental costs).

   In-kind contributions: We are asking for donations of light refreshments for our bi-monthly seminar series (coffee/tea/cookies for 25 people) and food and beverage donations for our final white paper competition event (hors d'ouevres / beverages for about 75 people).

   Past donations:
   Anonymous - 5,000
   Anonymous - 10,000

Project page URL:

• http://step.berkeley.edu