

Minor Science and Technology in Society (StiS)

Science does not exist in a vacuum. Studying the way science is embedded in larger social contexts is essential to understanding the possibilities and limitations of science and research.

Professionalize your view on science

Taking a scientific look at science will shift your focus to various questions: Does science discover social realities or does it help to create them? How do we measure scientific progress? How does scientific and scholarly communication happen?

This minor will address these questions by turning the sciences into an object of study. It presents a thoroughly interdisciplinary perspective on scientific cultures and their roles in society. It trains students to critically interrogate scientific claims and practices, thereby changing students’ perspectives on their own discipline. Insights and skills acquired in this minor are broadly useful in the professional realms of science communication and science policy.


For questions concerning registration contact the Student Services Center at osc@fsw.leidenuniv.nl


The minor is taught in the first semester of the year and consists of five modules. For more information about the minor please contact Josephine Bergmans  (minor coordinator) or visit the e-Studiegids.

Tobias Nosten

"I'm a Psychology student but I’ve always had a broader interest in the way the sciences work in general. The minor Science and Technology in Society has really opened my eyes to the intricacies at work behind the scenes of knowledge production and communication. Without exaggeration, this programme has shifted my perspective of academia, and has altered my academic path."

Student Tobias Nosten

Thed van Leeuwen

I teach two courses in this minor. I think the five different modules succeed very well in teaching students to think critically about scientific knowledge in general and be aware of who and what is involved in knowledge making processes: how it is communicated, valued, and evaluated. The minor offers a science about the sciences. Everyone who is serious about knowing would benefit from taking this meta perspective.

Lecturer Thed van Leeuwen

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