This issue reaches readers at the end of the teaching year for many and the start of the summer, when we look forward to being reunited with our writing projects, attending workshops with colleagues, and having some time away with family or friends.
In our previous edition we reflected on and celebrated the largest ever STS gathering of EASST/4S in Amsterdam last July. Since then, STS has been very much alive, manifesting its creativity through diverse formats and smaller, innovative meetings across Europe and beyond.
In this issue, we learn about two exciting events in Spain. Aibar, Valles-Peris and Domenach report on how STS took a significant step forward with the establishment of the Catalan Association for Science and Technology Studies (STS-CAT), marking an exciting institutional and political moment. Juarez-Gonzalez and colleagues also tell us about a series of knowledge exchange events at the Complutense University of Madrid, involving early career researchers.
Further to these events, we are pleased to hear about developments at the University of Cambridge, and how new collaborations are forming there across what are often called STEM and SHAPE subjects. In their contribution, Ramirez and Elstow discuss the challenges and rewards of creating interdisciplinary teams, and finding a shared language for researchers from these diverse backgrounds and perspectives to speak to each other and their interests.
In April 2025, scholars in STS and the sociology of health and illness also came together to celebrate the life and work of Catherine Will at the University of Sussex whose life was cut all too short in 2024 after a long illness. Erickson and colleagues discuss the symposium held in her honour, and we include an ‘in memoriam’ piece authored by Fincham and Phipps.
We also have Bieszczad and Sepehr’s report on a workshop held during the EASST/4S conference that we weren’t able to publish in the last issue, focusing on guiding early career academics through the publishing process. This shares ‘five lessons’ for publishing in STS that we are confident readers will find valuable to learn!
Hoeyer, Langstrup and Krasnik also initiate an important conversation about STS and public health in light of the Trump Administration’s cuts to research budgets. They offer some essential reflections on how to uphold societal values in the turbulent political times in which we are living.
These various initiatives illustrate that STS scholarship remains profoundly collaborative, reflexive, and politically attuned. As we look forward, we invite readers to contribute reports and reflections from events they participate in or organise, reminding us all that the strength of STS lies in the richness of ongoing dialogue and engagement; despite the many difficulties that we face in universities and wider societies.
Looking ahead
Our next issue will be published in December 2025. If you are interested in contributing, please familiarize yourself with our submission guidelines and send your articles by 10 November 2025. For queries or to discuss potential submissions, reach out to the editorial team at review@easst.net.
