Christina Boswell Named Chair of Campaign for Social Science

Britain’s Academy of Social Sciences has named University of Edinburgh politics professor Christina Boswell FBA FAcSS FRSE as the new chair of its advocacy arm, the Campaign for Social Science. Boswell replaces Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute of King’s College London, who had chaired the group since 2019.

The Campaign for Social Science further the academy’s promotion of the social sciences, in particular in research evidence in policy and in advocacy for the health of the social sciences in teaching, learning and research. Boswell, who with the appointment becomes a trustee of the academy, has extensive experience advancing research in policy, having set up, for example, the Centre for Science, Knowledge and Policy in 2012 at Edinburgh.

Alongside her research, which focuses on the use of research and expert knowledge in policymaking, she has held numerous advisory roles for governments and international organizations, including for UNHRC, OECD, the European Commission, and UK and Scottish Governments. She currently sits on the Home Office Scientific Advisory Council, is an advisor to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and three months ago was named a member of ESRC Council. Boswell served as vice president for public policy of the British Academy from 2021 until this year.

 “We are facing a perfect storm of social, economic and environmental disruption,” a release from the academy quotes Boswell, “and the insights and methods from social sciences will be at the heart of tackling these problems. I’m looking forward to working with our social science community and stakeholders across policy, public sector, industry and civil society to deliver the campaign’s mission of improving policy, society and our lives.”

At the University of Edinburgh, Boswell also served as vice principal for research and Enterprise for the university between from 2022 to 2025, and was dean of research for the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences  from 2017 to 2022.