This book is about changing social relationships. The authors focus on the question of what social relations make for successful science and technology policies. In particular, the various chapters illustrate what happens at different social interfaces, such as between policy makers and researchers, and between the users and producers of knowledge. In other words, they are interested in the knowledge networks that are emerging between the many different actors involved in the development of science and technology.' Science and Technology Policy for Development' is the outcome of a workshop that brought together scholars and policy makers from the global South and the North, from private and public organizations, to review their experiences. What unites the authors is a common concern for research–policy linkages. In this context, research was taken to mean any systematic effort to increase the stock of knowledge, and 'policy' as any purposive course of action followed by an actor or set of actors. Linkages are seen as the communication and patterns of interaction among the actors involved. Such patterns may consolidate into knowledge networks in which information is evaluated or prioritized. A number of authors stress the communication aspect of such patterns, especially in the form of dialogue between actors or, through them, between institutions like ministries, universities or companies. The subtitle of this book reflects this orientation: 'Dialogues at the Interface' refers to communication between these different institutions. A must read for students of development economics, professionals in the sector and policy-makers alike.

Professor Louk de la Rive Box is at the Institute of Social Sciences, The Hague.

Rutger Engelhard is Managing Director of  Contactivity bv, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Acknowledgements; Acronyms; Preface; Foreword; Dialogues at the Interface: an Introduction; Visions from the South: Knowledge Dependence and Its Discontents: The Demand for Policy Research in Africa in the era of Globalization; Regionalism and Science and Technology Development in Africa; Building a Critical Mass of Researchers in the Least Developed Countries: New Challenges; Epistemic Communities and Informed Policy Making for Promoting Innovations: The Case of Singapore; Science for Transformations: Research Agendas and Priorities in South Africa; Networking Knowledge: Science and Technology Policies Through Policy Dialogue; From Development Research to Pro-Poor Policy: Evidence and the Change Process; Priority Setting in Research for Development: A Donor's Perspective; International Collaboration in Science and Technology: Promises and Pitfalls; Priority Setting in Technical Cooperation: Expanding the Demand for Knowledge-Based Development; The Use of Foresight in Setting Agricultural Research Priorities; Development of Sustainable Control of Diamondback Moth in Cabbage and Cauliflower by Public-Private Partnership; Coda: The Emerging Contextual Space for Priority Setting in Development Research; Workshop Participants