Ronald Sáenz Leandro is a researcher and predoctoral fellow in the Society, Technology and Culture (STC) program at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). He has worked as a teacher and researcher at the University of Costa Rica (UCR). At this university he taught courses in the School of Political Sciences, predominantly in the research methods training line.
In addition, at the UCR he coordinated the PROTESTAS research project at the Institute of Social Research (IIS-UCR), which is responsible for building a database under the Protest Event Analysis (PEA) methodology in Costa Rica, from where he began to work on the intersection between political mobilization and digital platforms. He was also an associate researcher in the Environment, Science, Technology and Society (ACTS) program, attached to the Center for Historical Research of Central America (CIHAC-UCR), where he carried out comparative studies on science policies in the Central American region.
Among his main research areas are: comparative politics with a focus on Latin America stand out; Social research methodology; protests, collective actions and technopolitics; and the Social Studies of Science and Technology (CTS). He has published works in specialized magazines related to these topics in the Latin American region, such as Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society, PAAKAT: Revista de Tecnología y Sociedad and REDES: Revista de Estudios Sociales de la Ciencia y la Tecnología, among others.
He is currently part of the following academic networks:
- Ibero-American Network of groups dedicated to the development of models for the design, implementation and evaluation of science, technology and innovation policies, Ibero-American Program of Science and Technology for Development (CYTED).
- The ECPR Standing Group on Latin American Politics.
- Sociedad Latinoamericana de Estudios Sociales de la Ciencia y la Tecnología (ESOCITE)
- The Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)