Social Dimensions of Nanotechnology

http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/sociallaboratories

Abstract:

This exploratory project appointed a social scientist to be based in a nanoscience laboratory to work together with scientists on the social implications of nanotechnology. The project has contributed to wider academic and public reflection on the social aspects of nanotechnology. Equally importantly, it has created opportunities for scientists working on nanotechnology to learn about and reflect on the broader public context of their work. The project also contributed to the first citizens’ jury on nanotechnology, and through a number of research collaborations, has built networks that link academic research on nanotechnology with social science research on the social and political dimensions of emerging technologies. The themes developed by this exploratory project are being explored further by Doubleday and Welland in a three-year Wellcome Trust funded project.

Report:

This project had four principal aims:

1. To build capacity within the IRC to help researchers develop a broader understanding of the social context for nanoscience research.
2. To establish a public engagement strategy for the IRC.
3. To facilitate links between IRC scientists, social scientists and other stakeholders.
4. To reflect on this experiment of including social science perspectives in the laboratory.

1. Building IRC capacity

An ad hoc advisory group for the project was established, which included social scientists and people with industry, environmental NGO and policy perspectives. Workshops for IRC PhD students and other scientists introduced them to the social dimensions of nanotechnology. The first of these focused on NGO perspectives on nanotechnology and arguments for public engagement (7 December 2004), the second workshop explored UK government nanotechnology policy (19 April 2005). In addition Doubleday gave seminars at Cambridge, Bristol and UCL. Work on public engagement and collaboration with other research projects also provided opportunities for scientists to reflect on the social dimensions of nanotechnology, for example several IRC scientists took part in interviews and workshops as part of the ESRC funded project on Nanotechnology, Risk and Sustainability.

2. Public Engagement

Through this project the IRC collaborated with Greenpeace UK, the Guardian, and the University of Newcastle on NanoJury UK – a citizens’ jury on nanotechnology policy. The citizens’ jury is a structured process for public engagement on technically complex issues. NanoJury explored issues in nanotechnology research policy and potential risks and benefits of nanotechnology in relation to health, energy and communication technologies. The jury came up with recommendations for the governance of nanotechnology, which were launched at a policy seminar in London, September 2005.

The project has also directly engaged with publics at science festivals (Cheltenham, June 2005; Cambridge, March 2006; and Edinburgh April 2006). The project has attracted media coverage, including: Financial Times (“Nanotech needs to listen to its public, and now”, 1 September 2004), the Times Higher Education Supplement, (“Before you build that nanobot...”, 28 January 2005), Guardian (“Now we’re going public”, 19 May 2005) and BBC Radio 4 (Analysis: “Grey Goo’s Sticky Mess, 30 December 2004; Material World, “Nanotechnology in Context”, 1 December 2005).

3. Collaborations

This project has collaborated with two social science research projects. It worked with Nanotechnology, Risk and Sustainability, an ESRC funded project on the social implications of nanotechnology being carried out by Lancaster University and the think-tank Demos. It is also developed technology assessment techniques together with the social science component of the Dutch national nanotechnology network (NanoNed), directed by Professor Arie Rip, University of Twente.

The project also contributed to Frontiers, a Framework 6 Network of Excellence in nanotechnology. Doubleday co-ordinated the ethical and social aspects of nanotechnology work package. The project also participated as a member of the International Nanotechnology and Society Network (www.nanoandsociety.com), which is run from the new US National Science Foundation funded centre for Nanotechnology and Society at Arizona State University.

4. Reflection

Doubleday has carried out an ethnographic study of how different aspects of the social dimensions of nanotechnology project are taken up within the IRC in Nanotechnology. This is important in the context of current research policy debates about how to integrate questions about “science and society” into the practice and policy of strategic research directed towards the development of emerging technologies. This has led to two journal articles (submitted) and a book chapter (in preparation). This research formed the basis for a successful grant application to the Wellcome Trust.

5. Other activities

The project has also allowed the IRC to become involved in policy debates about nanotechnology and society. Doubleday is a core member of the Nanotechnology Engagement Group established by the UK government in March 2005 to advise on the lessons of the various public engagement initiatives.

As part of the role of communicating with a wide range of organisations involved in debates about nanotechnology and society Doubleday has given presentations to the investment community (F&C Asset Management, 12 October 2004); nanotechnology industry (Nanotechnology Industry Association, 26 September 2006); and campaigning NGOs (ETC Group, 26 February 2005).

Research grants:

Social Laboratories: Engaging with public dimensions of nanobiotechnology
Wellcome Trust, Society Awards (Research) - £158,456
Principal applicant: Doubleday, co-applicant: Welland
Three year project, start date 1 October 2006

Publications in progress:

‘Organising Accountability: co-production of technoscientific and social worlds in a nanoscience laboratory’ in a special section of Area  (submitted for review).
‘Risk, public engagement and reflexivity: how nanotechnology frames public deliberation’ for special edition of Health Risk and Society (submitted for review).
‘The laboratory revisited: academic science and the responsible development of nanotechnology’ Rogers-Hayden (ed) Engaging with Nanotechnologies – Engaging Differently? (in preparation).

Invited talks (international):

‘Social and ethical aspects of nanotechnology: expanding the innovation horizon’, Nanotech Forum, Stockholm, 4-6 October 2006.
‘Integrating reflections on social and ethical aspects of bionanotechnology’, Life is Matter – Life Matters: Conversations in Bionanotechnology, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, 25-27 October 2005.
‘Representations of Science and Society: rethinking STS methodology in the context of collaborative research on the “social dimensions of nanotechnology”’, Department of Science & Technology Studies, Cornell, 23 June 2005.
‘Social Dimensions of Nanotechnology: rethinking research in a changing context’, Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility, Cornell, 22 June 2005.
‘Opening Up the Research Agenda: views from a lab-based sociologist’, Research-Training in Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies, European Commission workshop, Brussels, 14-15 April 2005.
‘Societal Dimensions of Nanotechnology: the view from a social scientist in a nanoscience lab’, workshop on Emerging Technologies and Upstream Public Dialogue, Woodrow Wilson International Centre, Washington DC, 24 January 2005.
‘Nanoscience and Society: rethinking research in a changing context’, iNano Seminars, Aarhus University, Denmark, 3 December 2004.

Invited talks (national):

‘Nanotechnology, social responsibility and the scientific community’, Nanotechnology in Society: the wider issues,University of Sheffield, 3 April 2006.
‘Social Dimensions of Nanotechnology: renegotiating a social contract for technological innovation’, Institute of Food Research, Norwich, 7 July 2005.
‘Nanotechnology in peril: consumers and citizens’, Technological Change and the Consumer as Citizen, ESRC workshop, University of Cambridge, 2 June 2005.
‘Nanotechnology and Society: how can science studies contribute to nanoscience research’, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, 24 May 2005.
‘Social Dimensions of Nanotechnology: renegotiating a social contract for technological innovation’, R&D: Managing New Trends, Horizon Conference, University of Cambridge, 5 April 2005.
‘The Promise of Interdisciplinarity: exploring the social dimensions of nanotechnology’, Environment and Society Research Unit Seminar, Department of Geography, University College London, 23 February 2005.
‘Nanoscience and Society: rethinking research in a changing context’, Biological and Soft Systems Seminar, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, 1 December 2004.
‘The Promise of Interdisciplinarity: or, if the answer is the social implications of nanotechnology, what is the question?’, Comparative Studies in Biotechnology and Accountability Seminars, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge, 4 November 2004.

International conferences:

‘Technoscience for the citizen: a nanoscience laboratory and the British State’. Annual meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science, Vancouver, 1-5 November 2006.
‘The laboratory revisited: academic science and the responsible development of nanotechnology’. Conference of the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology, Lausanne, 23-26 August 2006.
‘Representations of Science and Society: rethinking STS methodology in the context of collaborative research on the “social dimensions of nanotechnology”’. Science & Democracy Network, Annual Meeting, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 24-26 June 2005.
‘The Promise of Interdisciplinarity: or, if the answer is the social implications of nanotechnology, what is the question?’, Annual meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science, Paris, 26-28 August 2004.