The Unit was established in 1988 and conducts research in three broad areas: the sociological analysis of science and technology policy especially in relation to the knowledge and research interface between public and private sectors, the cultural dynamics of technological change especially concerning technology acquistion, and women and reproductive technologies in the health sector.
The Unit has won external funding from the ESRC, the EC, NATO and other external agencies (such as the British Council) to work on projects in all three areas, which have included some of the first detailed analyses of the sociological dynamics of the commercialisation of the public sector science base and its relation to the wider innovation system.
The Unit leads a research network in the Cambridge/North London region among sociologists and other social scientists with similar interests. This has led to a programme of research seminars and day-long Workshops such as that on 'Risk and the Environment' and 'Sociology and Science Policy, ' Social and Technological Innovation in Cambridge', 'Reconstructing the NHS: Which technology, Whose voices?', 'Race and Technology' and others. Workshops will run three times a year.
The Unit has conducted a number of consultancies for both public and private sector clients, including reports for the ESRC and Office of Science and Technology. Members of the Unit are regular presenters at research conferences in universities in the UK, Europe, the USA and Latin America.
The centre has 13 researchers.