Workshops for the Rising Generation of Science, Engineering, and Technology Policy, Washington, DC, April 2003-2005

George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides partial support for a graduate student conference on science and technology policy, for three years, from 2003 through 2005. The proposed activities are to take place in conjunction with but separate from the annual AAAS Science and Technology Policy Colloquium usually held in April in Washington, DC. Graduate students at Virginia Technological, George Washington and George Mason universities develop the themes, prepare and disseminate requests for papers, prepare their own substantive papers, select submissions, invite keynote speakers, and secure sponsors, which in years past have included the American Association for the Advancement of Science, (AAAS), the National Academy of Engineering, and General Motors. AAAS has offered the use of its conference facilities on New York Avenue in Washington, DC. The proposed conferences build on successful conferences conducted in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Students from a dozen universities in the United States attended in these years. George Mason is coordinating the present proposal to NSF, but all three universities will share equally in the running of the conferences. This now-annual event is one of the only U.S. events to focus entirely on graduate student work in the science, technology, engineering and policy field. It is designed to bring together students in many different kinds of programs in this field, for example science and technology studies, public policy, science and technology policy, engineering and public policy. In addition, combining student paper presentations with career and job related discussions that involve current practitioners helps prepare students for both academic and non-academic careers. Thus the conference contributes to the oft-noted objective of broadening career options for students in fields that have, in some cases, largely been oriented toward academic work. Financial support from NSF helps put the conference on a more solid footing, and signals the value of student work to key policy institutions. Graduate students in this field often struggle with the lack of clear signals about the professional value of their work, and encouragement from major institutions is important. Conference participation for students traditionally underrepresented in science and technology policy and studies will be especially solicited.