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Simon Niemeyer

Professor in Deliberative Democracy and Environmental Governance, University of Canberra
Simon Niemeyer is Professor and co-founder of the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra (which moved from The Australian National University in 2014), as well as Associate Dean of Research at the Faculty of Business, Law and Government. He is also the lead coordinating researcher for the Global Citizens' Assembly project, as well as lead investigator on an ARC funded project conducting a meta-analysis of deliberative democratic research. His overall research covers the broad fields of deliberative democracy and environmental governance, with a focus on political reasoning and public opinion formation. His empirical research has contributed to major theoretical insights in deliberative democracy, with practical implications informing improvements the broader democratic process and the role of deliberative minipublics, such as citizens' assemblies. He completed his PhD at the Australian National University and since then has been the recipient of a number of Australian Research Council Awards — including ARC Postdoctoral and Future Fellowships. He has led major international research projects, both in Australia and overseas, most recently based in Sweden at Uppsala University on citizens and political deliberation. His more recent research involves building a theoretical model of deliberative political reasoning, backed by an empirical method and data collected over a 20 year period. The aim is to apply the method to assessing democratic systems and how institutional settings improve citizen deliberation, as an antidote to reductive populism, anti-science and declining trust in politics.

Why we need a global citizens' assembly on gene editing

Sep 20, 2020 05:59 am UTC| Science

Developments in gene editing are often met with moral panic. Every new announcement raises outrage over the audacity of scientists playing God. The existence of mutant mosquitoes and designer babies are often framed as...

Economy

Gold Prices Dip Amid Middle East Uncertainty and Inflation Fears

Gold prices edged lower during Asian trading on Thursday, retreating after modest gains in the previous session as investors continued monitoring escalating Middle East tensions threatening a fragile ceasefire between the...

Oil Prices Rebound as Hormuz Disruptions and Middle East Tensions Rattle Markets

Oil prices recovered Thursday following their sharpest single-day decline since April 2020, as ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and escalating Middle East tensions renewed fears over global crude supply. By...

U.S. Futures Dip as Iran Ceasefire Faces Early Challenges

U.S. stock index futures edged slightly lower Wednesday evening as investors monitored the fragile state of a newly announced Iran-U.S. ceasefire agreement. The cautious overnight movement followed an exceptional trading...

U.S.-Iran Ceasefire: Fragile Truce Raises Hopes for Strait of Hormuz Peace Deal

A temporary ceasefire between the United States, Iran, and Israel is holding but just barely. U.S. Vice President JD Vance described the two-week truce as fragile on Wednesday, warning that Iran appeared to be...

Gold Surges Near 3-Week High as Trump-Iran Ceasefire Eases Geopolitical Tensions

Gold prices climbed sharply on Wednesday, nearing a three-week high after President Donald Trump announced a temporary ceasefire with Iran, easing geopolitical tensions that had been gripping global markets. Spot gold...

Politics

Haiti Election 2025: Voter Registration Delayed Amid Ongoing Security Crisis

Haitis Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) has officially announced the postponement of a voter registration drive that was originally set to begin on April 1. The council stated that updated registration dates would be...

Anthropic Fights Pentagon Blacklisting in Dual Federal Court Battles

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has refused to halt the Pentagons national security blacklisting of AI company Anthropic, delivering a temporary win for the Trump administration. The ruling comes as another...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

FCC Moves to Ban All Chinese Labs From Testing U.S. Electronics

The Federal Communications Commission is escalating its crackdown on Chinese technology by preparing to vote on a sweeping proposal that would prohibit all Chinese laboratories from testing electronic devices intended for...

Israel Strikes Lebanon Amid Iran Ceasefire, UN Condemns Mass Casualties

Just hours after a two-week ceasefire was brokered between the United States and Iran, Israel launched its most intense wave of strikes on Lebanon since the conflict with Hezbollah began last month. The scale of the...

Science

NASA Artemis II: First Crewed Moon Mission Since Apollo Takes Four Astronauts on 10-Day Lunar Journey

NASAs Artemis II mission launched Wednesday, marking humanitys return to crewed lunar exploration for the first time since the Apollo era. Carrying four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft, this historic 10-day mission...

NASA's Artemis II Mission: First Crewed Lunar Journey Since Apollo

NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission

The four astronauts chosen for NASAs Artemis II mission have touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the beginning of final launch preparations for the first crewed lunar journey in over 50 years. NASA...

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

Technology

U.S. Disrupts Russian Military Hackers' Global DNS Hijacking Network

The U.S. Justice Department has successfully executed a court-authorized operation to dismantle a DNS hijacking network tied to Russian military intelligence. The network was run by GRU Military Unit 26165, a cyber unit...

Samsung Electronics Posts Eightfold Profit Surge Driven by AI Chip Demand

Samsung Electronics delivered a stunning financial turnaround in the first quarter of 2025, projecting operating profit of approximately 57.2 trillion won (roughly $38 billion) a more than eightfold increase compared to...

China's Push to Steal Taiwan's Chip Technology and Talent Raises Security Alarms

Taiwans National Security Bureau has raised serious concerns about Beijings escalating efforts to infiltrate the islands world-class semiconductor industry. According to a report submitted to Taiwanese lawmakers, China is...

Apple's Foldable iPhone Faces Engineering Setbacks, Mass Production Timeline at Risk

Apples highly anticipated foldable iPhone is running into significant engineering hurdles during its test phase, raising concerns about potential delays in both mass production and product shipments, according to a report...

Britain Courts Anthropic Amid US Defense Department Dispute

The United Kingdom is actively working to attract Anthropic, the company behind the popular Claude AI app, to expand its footprint in the country. This diplomatic push comes as Anthropic finds itself in the middle of a...