Mike Michael

Mike Michael is a Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the University of Exeter, affiliated with the Department of Social and Political Sciences. He joined the university in 2017 after roles at Lancaster University, Goldsmiths, and the University of Sydney. His research focuses on the intersections of technoscience with everyday life, biomedical innovation, public understanding of science, and process methodology. He has pioneered speculative methodologies and interdisciplinary approaches to studying design, energy communities, and socio-technical systems.

Michael’s academic career spans sociology, anthropology, and philosophy, with key affiliations including the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health and the Energy Babble research project. His pedagogical contributions include teaching social theory, environmental sociology, and qualitative methods. He has supervised over 30 PhD students across diverse topics such as biobanking, xenotransplantation, and the spatialities of football.

His research outputs emphasize speculative frameworks and aesthetic inquiries, with recent work exploring the ontologies of digital data, infrastructural politics, and posthumanist design. Key themes include the ethical implications of biomedical technologies, the socio-materialities of communication during crises, and the role of aesthetics in shaping scientific and societal practices.

Michael’s work bridges academia and public engagement, addressing issues like austerity futures, energy communities, and the ambivalences of abstraction in contemporary research. He actively contributes to interdisciplinary debates on methodologies, futures studies, and the socio-cultural dimensions of technoscience.