Collaborative Master’s in Science, Society and Policy

The ISSP’s master’s level Collaborative Program is open to students accepted to one of the University of Ottawa’s participating master's programs and who are conducting conducting research in science, society and Policy.

You receive your degree in your main program, with the mention "Specialization in Science, Society and Policy " on your diploma and transcript.

Admissions to the SSP Collaborative Program are processed on a rolling basis, and students from our partner programs can apply at any time.

Descriptions of the courses offered by the ISSP as part of the graduate program are provided below.

ISP 5101: Decision-making at the interface of science and policy (3 cr)
Syllabus (PDF, 273KB)

This course explores a number of critical issues in the design and implementation of science (or, more generally, evidence)-based policy. Topics will include: the nature of scientific evidence; who has standing in the provisioning of scientific evidence; the science and non-science of risk assessment; ethical dimensions of policy design and implementation; the role of science in policy design and implementation; the policy making process; and science policy performance evaluation.

ISP 5903: Science, Society and Technology Capstone Practicum (3 cr)

This practicum is designed to partner students with external public, non-governmental or private institutions engaged in activities relating to science and technology policy, regulation, governance or communication. Students will undertake, either singly in groups, a research project co-directed by both an internal supervisor from ISSP, as well as an external supervisor from the sponsoring institution.