The Ronald and Maxine Linde Center for Science, Society, and Policy (LCSSP)
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The Ronald and Maxine Linde Center for Science, Society, and Policy (LCSSP) provides a forum for research and debate on topics at the intersection of science and society. The goal is twofold: To learn and educate about current science policy and its institutional stakeholders, and to shape science policy by building on Caltech's scientific expertise.
Among its initiatives, LCSSP brings policymakers and other stakeholders to campus for distinguished lectures, colloquia, discussion panels, and workshops. The Center also develops courses that cover issues in science policy and science ethics. These educational goals are complemented by research pursued within the Center and by funding research endeavors across Caltech that engage with the societal impact of scientific advances or that explore the regulatory landscapes of specific scientific domains. The LCSSP supports a broad engagement between science and policy with deliberate emphasis on research and communication areas in which the Caltech community can contribute experience and expertise.
As of 2024, the research areas the Center focuses on are climate change and sustainability, the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI), and bioethics. Each of these substantive areas is one where Caltech has existing research strengths, and in which researchers are already collaborating through research centers and programs such as the Resnick Sustainability Institute, the Ronald and Maxine Linde Center for Global Environmental Science, the Center for Social Information Sciences (CSIS), and the Merkin Institute for Translational Research. Through collaborations with these existing programs at Caltech, the LCSSP facilitates stronger connections between Caltech scientific research and the policymaking process. Any Caltech faculty or students who have research interest and projects in these areas are encouraged to contact the Center co-directors.