Staff profile

Associate Professor in Space Innovation and Technology Governance (On research leave at Heidelberg University)

Dr Chiu is Associate Professor in Space Innovation and Technology Governance at Durham University. 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 is currently on research leave at the Käte Hamburger Center for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies at Heidelberg University.

• 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.

• 2024: UKRI Future Leaders Talent Peer Review College Member:
• 2024: Heidelberg University, Center for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies:
• 2023: Teaching Award - University of Exeter Business School Teaching Award - Sustainable Futures (Management) :
• 2023: Invited speaker on Space-based threats to peace, Pacem in Terris, The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences/ Peace Research Institute Oslo, Casina Pio IV, Vatican City:
• 2019: Ad Astra Distinguished Fellow in Robotic and Outer Space Governance, Space Engineering Research Center, USC:
• 2019: Lib Dem Technology Commission, Convened by Prof Sue Black OBE and Jo Swinson CBE:
• 2012: Ernst Mach Grant:

Journal Article

• Chiu, N. (2023). Orbis non sufficit — Co-operation and Discord in Global Space and Disarmament Governance. Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 18(2-3), 351-379. https://doi.org/10.1163/1871191x-bja10164
• Chiu, S. W. (2019). Promoting international co-operation in the age of global space governance – A study on on-orbit servicing operations. Acta Astronautica, 161, 375-381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2018.07.019