Scholar Award: The Value of SEIN Research

University Of South Carolina At Columbia, Columbia SC

Investigators

Abstract

General Audience Summary This project will study the impact of research on the Social and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology (SEIN) over the last fifteen years. The goal is to determine the extent to which the publications, insights, and conclusions of that research has been useful to populations beyond academic disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences, where SEIN research has been done. The PI will interview stakeholders and decision-makers in four target populations: business and industry; law, especially intellectual property law; science and technology research and development; and science policy and regulation. The core research questions of the project include the following. What is the extent to which SEIN research is useful to these populations? Are there ways to improve on the utility of this research for them? How can the results of this project, the insights and recommendations that are generated from it, serve to inform STS research on other forms of emerging science and technology? The PI will broadly disseminate his research results to enhance understanding of science and technology, especially in formats that reach policy makers in business, industry, and law. He will also bring to light successful instances of substantial benefits of SEIN research, and to recommend ways for other researchers in STS to plan early to accomplish similar benefits in their research. Technical Summary This project will interview 60 to 80 stakeholders in business, law, science, and science policy to ascertain whether they are familiar with SEIN research in four areas: ethics in nanotechnology, public engagement with nanotech, issues of fairness and social justice, and the history and development of nanotechnology. For those who are familiar with these features of SEIN research, the PI will query the manner and the extent to which they use it in their decision-making. For those who are not familiar with these elements of SEIN research, he will inquire how this kind of research might be formatted and delivered to facilitate their being used. There will be a second round of interviews to gather the perspectives of leaders in SEIN research in the US, especially those whose work was made possible by funding from US government agencies. A third round will interview a sample of SEIN leaders in the EU and Canada to discern whether they have been more successful than US researchers in disseminating their results to populations outside of academic disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences. It is intended that the results of this work will also be useful for stakeholders in other topics of emerging science and technology, e.g., Synthetic Biology or mapping the human brain.