Two STEPS Centre members have been included for the second year running in the Highly Cited Researchers List produced by the analytics company Clarivate.
Ian Scoones, Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies and co-director of the STEPS Centre, is included in the list, which recognises the global influence of academics within their field. As well as his role at STEPS, Ian leads an ERC Advanced Grant project, PASTRES (Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience: Lessons From the Margins), and a research programme on the politics of land reform in Zimbabwe.
Another STEPS member on the list is Adrian Smith, Professor of Technology and Society at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), who has conducted influential research on grassroots innovation and technology policy with colleagues around the world.
The Highly Cited Researchers list is compiled by Clarivate Analytics and includes researchers who receive significant interest in their chosen field by publishing multiple, highly cited papers in the last decade. These have appeared in publications that rank in the top 1% by citations for a publication field and year.
Commenting on this recognition, Ian Scoones said: ‘I am pleased that the collaborative efforts of my colleagues in Zimbabwe and at the ESRC STEPS Centre at Sussex has been recognised as having global influence. Against a backdrop of accelerating climate change and inequality, our research into agrarian change and environmental sustainability has never been more important. This is why it means so much to be included in a global list of influence that demonstrates our contribution to global understanding.’
Other researchers on the list based at the University of Sussex include Paula Kivimaa and Karoline Rogge, both from the Science Policy Research Unit; Dave Goulson from the School of Life Sciences; Anil Seth, co-director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness; and Constantin Blome, Steven Sorrell and Benjamin Sovacool from the University of Sussex Business School.
About STEPS
The ESRC STEPS Centre is a research centre on sustainability co-hosted by IDS and SPRU, which aims to open up political questions related to sustainability through transdisciplinary research, training, theoretical work, and policy engagement.
Since 2006, the Centre has highlighted the role of power relations, alternatives, values and diverse forms of knowledge in addressing complex challenges including climate change, food systems, urbanisation and technology. From its origins in Sussex, it now works as part of a global consortium with hubs in Africa, China, Europe, Latin America, North America and South Asia. It is funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).