Dr Matthias Wienroth

Assistant Professor

Department: Social Sciences

How can technology contribute to the 'good society', and what does 'good society’ even mean? I address these questions in my work on studying science and technology as social practices. I am particularly interested in how technologies shape the ways we know and (un)know human beings and relationships, individuals, communities and society. The fields I primarily study this in are security & justice (forensics and biometrics), and human health.

My work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals, including BioSocieties, the British Journal for the History of Science, Forensic Science Review, Minerva, Leonardo, New Genetics & Society, Sociology of Health & Illness, and others. I have edited books for Routledge and IOS Press, and regularly peer-review journal articles and grant proposals.

I was part of the multi-national FP7 Network of Excellence EUROFORGEN, and am a founding member of the interdisciplinary scientific initiative on new and emerging forensic genetics technologies WIE-DNA (Germany) and of the global network STS MIGTEC (Science and Technology Studies of Migration and Technologies). I am a member of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) and the European Association for Studies of Science and Technology (EASST). Since 2015, I have been building an interdisciplinary and international network for the Social Studies of Forensic Science.

Prior to joining the Centre for Crime and Policing I was Senior Research Associate at the Policy, Ethics & Life Sciences Research Centre, Newcastle University, and previously also worked as researcher at the Universities of Durham and Edinburgh, and King's College London.

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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

I am particularly interested in studying disciplinary, cross-disciplinary and cross-boundary knowledge production and organisation, their social & ethical aspects, and issues of governance here, in the fields of forensics, biometrics, and health technology and systems.

In my work I draw on frameworks and methods from Science and Technology Studies (STS), Sociology, Anthropology, Sociological/Empirical Ethics, Bioethics, Public Engagement, and Critical Policy Analysis. My work is interdisciplinary and integrates engagement with scientific practitioners, publics & policy-makers.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Dissolving boundaries, fostering dependencies. The new forensic genetics assemblage, Wienroth, M., Granja, R. 2 Aug 2024, In: Science Technology and Human Values
‘Crisis’, Control, and Circulation: Biometric Surveillance in the Policing of the ‘Crimmigrant Other’, Wienroth, M., Amelung, N. Sep 2023, In: International Journal of Police Science and Management
Value beyond scientific Validity: Let’s RULE (Reliability, Utility, LEgitimacy), Wienroth, M. 4 Dec 2020, In: Journal of Responsible Innovation
Socio-technical disagreements as ethical fora: Parabon NanoLab's forensic DNA Snapshot (TM) service at the intersection of discourses around robust science, technology validation, and commerce, Wienroth, M. 1 Mar 2020, In: BioSocieties
Governing anticipatory technology practices. Forensic DNA phenotyping and the forensic genetics community in Europe, Wienroth, M. 7 May 2018, In: New Genetics & Society
Promissory Ethical Regimes: Publics and Public Goods in Genome Editing for Human Health, Wienroth, M., Scully, J. Dec 2021, In: Science and Public Policy
Research campaigns in the UK National Health Service: patient recruitment and questions of valuation, Wienroth, M., Pearce, C., McKevitt, C. 1 Sep 2019, In: Sociology of Health & Illness
Health technology identities and self. Patients’ appropriation of an assistive device for self-management of chronic illness, Wienroth, M., Lund Holm Thomsen, L., Høstgaard, A. 1 Jun 2020, In: Sociology of Health & Illness
An analysis of the Learning Health System in its First Decade: A Scoping Review, Platt, J., Raj, M., Wienroth, M. 19 Mar 2020, In: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Was this an Ending? The Destruction of Samples and Deletion of Records from the UK Police National DNA Database, Skinner, D., Wienroth, M. 31 Jul 2019, In: BJHS Themes

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Oral presentation: Understanding Validation as Valuation. A Basis for Anticipatory Governance of Genetics Technologies for Security and Justice 2025
Oral presentation: (Un-)knowing the human in biometric surveillance. Thoughts on uncertainty, ignorance, and human rights. 2025
Organising a conference, workshop, ...: EASST/4S Joint Meeting 2024 2024
Invited talk: Invited Talk: Dissolving Boundaries, Fostering Dependencies. The New Forensic Genetics Assemblage 2024
Visiting an external academic institution: University of Luxembourg 2024
Invited talk: Key ethical considerations of new forensic genetics technologies 2024
Invited talk: Keynote: The Human in biometric surveillance: thoughts on identification, uncertainty and human rights 2023
Membership of network: COST-Action CA22135 Data Matters: Sociotechnical Challenges of European Migration and Border Control (DATAMIG) (External organisation) 2023
Invited talk: Keynote: Ethics as a Lived Practice. A Call for Critically Constructive Collaboration 2023
Oral presentation: “Circulating Technologies and Expertise across Migration and Crime Control. Biometric Surveillance in the Policing of the 'Crimmigrant Other'” 2023