About

Welcome to the blog of Dr Nikita Chiu – Associate Professor in Space Innovation & Technology Governance at Durham University.

Dr Nikita Chiu joins Durham as Associate Professor in Space Innovation and Technology Governance in 2024. In 2019, she was named Ad Astra Distinguished Fellow in Robotic and Outer Space Governance by the Space Engineering Research Center at USC. Previously, she served as Senior Lecturer in Innovation Policy at the University of Exeter. She was also the Research Fellow in Robotics and Outer Space Technologies at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford, and is a former Research Affiliate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge. An International Relations scholar by training, Dr. Chiu taught Foreign Policy and Global Governance first in Hong Kong, then in Tallinn and the UK. Prior to her career in Technology Governance, she read Technology Policy at St Edmund’s College at the University of Cambridge, and gained her PhD from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva in 2014. 

Dr Chiu is a former recipient of the Ernst Mach Grant. Named after the Austrian physicist, the grant enabled the investigation of multilevel governance policy at the city, national, and international (UN) level. Dr Chiu also contributed as a mentor for Space4Women, a network organized by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs(UNOOSA) to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She was selected as one of “20 under 35” future leaders to watch by the Space & Satellite Professionals International in 2019 for her work on space sustainability.

Dr Chiu’s ongoing research investigates the dynamics between technological advances and governance, with a focus on understanding the socio-economic, policy, and security impact brought by the increasing commercialization of robotics, quantum, and space technologies. Her latest research interest lies in integrating and strengthening diversity and inclusivity for high-performing/no-compromise technology sector, specifically Formula One, Formula E, and Polar science.

Dr Chiu is currently on research leave at the Käte Hamburger Center for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies at Heidelberg University.