Science diplomacy is the practice of using scientific knowledge and scientific cooperation to support international relations. It also includes the use of diplomatic tools to enable international research across borders.
You’ll see it wherever decisions depend on shared evidence and coordinated action, including climate and energy, public health, food systems, oceans, space, emerging technologies, and research security.
What is the meaning of science diplomacy?
When people ask what is science diplomacy, they are usually asking two related questions:
How does science shape international decisions? Scientific evidence, expertise, and technical assessment can inform negotiations, treaties, and joint policy commitments.
How do international relations shape science? Diplomatic relations affect visas, access to facilities, data sharing, funding frameworks, and the governance rules that make cross-border research possible.
It’s a field that sits between governments, universities, research funders, international organizations, and industry. It operates through formal agreements and multilateral forums, and through long-term professional networks.
What are the three dimensions of science diplomacy?
A widely used framework describes three overlapping dimensions: science in diplomacy, diplomacy for science, and science for diplomacy.
Science in diplomacy
Science supports diplomacy and foreign policy by providing usable evidence and expertise.
– Scientists advising delegations on climate, health security, energy transition, or emerging technology policy.
– Technical input shaping treaty language, verification methods, or shared risk assessments.
– Evidence supporting positions in multilateral working groups and international standard-setting.
Diplomacy for science
Diplomacy supports science by making international collaboration workable.
– Agreements that enable researcher mobility, joint projects, and institutional partnerships.
– Joint funding models that support multinational research teams.
– Governance arrangements for shared infrastructures and datasets, including access rules and compliance requirements.
Science for diplomacy
Scientific cooperation supports international relationships by creating stable channels of collaboration.
– Joint research programs that continue over time and maintain professional contact.
– Shared monitoring systems for climate, oceans, or disease surveillance that require continuity.
– Multilateral scientific networks that build trust through shared methods and peer review.
How do core diplomatic functions show up in science diplomacy?
The field relies on familiar diplomatic functions, but it applies them to technical work with long timelines.
Negotiation
Science diplomacy often requires clear terms for collaboration.
– Data access, data sharing, and privacy constraints.
– Intellectual property, publication norms, and knowledge transfer.
– Funding responsibilities, procurement rules, and cost sharing.
– Risk management, including dual-use concerns and export controls where relevant.
Communication
Science diplomacy depends on translating evidence into policy-relevant terms.
– Explaining uncertainty and confidence clearly, without oversimplifying.
– Aligning definitions and metrics so that agreements are comparable across countries.
– Producing briefings and position notes that decision-makers can use.
Relationship-building
Science cooperation depends on institutional trust built over time. This often happens through:
– Consortia, joint centers, and long-term research partnerships.
– Exchange programs and visiting appointments.
– Recurring working groups, advisory forums, and shared governance bodies.
Promotion of interests
States and institutions participate in science diplomacy to advance priorities while cooperating.
– Strengthening domestic research capacity through strategic partnerships.
– Shaping international norms on data governance, AI, biosafety, or space activity.
– Securing access to infrastructures that matter for national research and innovation goals.
What is EU science diplomacy?
EU science diplomacy refers to how the European Union links research and innovation with external action. Because responsibilities are shared, EU science diplomacy often involves both EU institutions and member states, alongside funders and universities. In practical terms, EU science diplomacy often includes:
– International research partnerships and agreements with non-EU countries.
– Funding instruments that support multinational collaboration and researcher mobility.
– Scientific input into EU external policy work on climate, health security, energy, and critical technologies.
– Engagement in multilateral processes where technical norms and standards are developed.
What is science diplomacy training?
Science diplomacy training prepares people to work credibly across research and international policy. It’s relevant for researchers working internationally, policy professionals dealing with technical issues, program managers at funders, and staff who manage global partnerships. Training typically develops capability in areas such as:
– Understanding how foreign policy and multilateral processes work in practice.
– Negotiation and stakeholder mapping in technical contexts.
– Science advice, including how to communicate uncertainty and evidence quality.
– Policy writing formats used by governments and international bodies.
– Research security and responsible international collaboration.
– Standards, governance basics, and data governance principles.
How can you work in science diplomacy?
The Master in Public Policy is a strong place to build the skills that science diplomacy actually requires: policy analysis, evidence use, and the ability to work across institutions. You learn how decisions are made, how negotiations move, and how technical input becomes something a public body can act on.
It also gives you clear routes into the areas where science diplomacy is most active. The specializations in Environment, Energy & Sustainability, Digital Transformation, and European Union Affairs align with the real arenas where governments coordinate on standards, data, climate targets, health security, and emerging technologies.
Just as importantly, the program’s applied format helps you test your fit for this work early.
Through simulations, capstones, and access to practitioners and partners, you learn what roles look like in practice and how to position yourself for them – whether that’s in government, an international organization, a think tank, a research-facing institution, or a private-sector policy team.
Benjamin is the editor of Uncover IE. His writing is featured in the LAMDA Verse and Prose Anthology Vol. 19, The Primer and Moonflake Press. Benjamin provided translation for “FalseStuff: La Muerte de las Musas”, winner of Best Theatre Show at the Max Awards 2024.
Benjamin was shortlisted for the Bristol Old Vic Open Sessions 2016 and the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize 2023.
