Center for Nanotechnology in Society at University of California, Santa Barbara (NSEC # SES 0531184 )

1. Center for Nanotechnology in Society at University of California, Santa Barbara (NSEC # SES 0531184) PIs: Barbara Herr Harthorn, Richard P. Appelbaum, Bruce Bimber, W. Patrick McCray, Christopher NewfieldUniversity of California, Santa Barbara In Study, Researchers Find Nanotubes May Pose Health Risks Similar to Asbestos By Kenneth Chang, Wednesday, May 21, 2008 Annual Number of Stories in 10 Largest US Newspapersby Frame Type IRG 1 – Origins, Institutions, and Communities(McCray) examines instrumentation, research communities, scientists’ careers, national and state policy, and the role of public imagination. IRG 2 – Innovation, Intellectual Property (Newfield)develops a comprehensive understanding of processes of innovation, commercialization, and global development and diffusion of nanotechnology. • CNS Mission • Examine the emergence and societal implications of nanotechnologies with a focus on the global human condition in a time of sustained technological innovation. Promote the socially and environmentally sustainable development of nanotechnologies in the US and around the globe. • Research Objectives • develop a portfolio of integrated multi-method research on nanoscience/nanotechnologies in dynamic interaction with society, from invention to global distribution, and lab to consumer to environment; • provide interdisciplinary training for a new generation of societally-attuned scientists and science-aware social scientists; • identify and dialogue with a wide array of public, media, government, NGO, and private sector constituents; • serve as a network hub in the emerging national and international network of scholars and activists concerned with nanotechnology in society. • Semiconductor Technologies & the Road to Nanoelectronics • Development of thin-film (MBE) technology and semiconductor roadmaps of the mid-1980s • Institutions of Interdisciplinarity • Understanding nano in the context of federally-funded interdisciplinary centers and the institutional transformation of university-government relationships since the 1970s • Origins of the NSECs, and interdisciplinarity in present-day nanoscale research at NNI sites • Nanotechnology Oral History Project • 24+ oral histories, archived at the Chemical Heritage Foundation and/or the Center for History of Physics • (Nano)Technological Enthusiasm and the Public Imagination • The political and social context of exploratory/fringe technologies - the researchers, futurists, and businesspeople working at the border between scientific fact and fiction in the 1970s/80s, and how we view modern technological utopias. Book in progress (Princeton Univ. Press) • Micro level: Nanoscale Laboratory Work • Survey about the interdisciplinary and multi-institutional collaboration process • Meso level: The Nanoscale Innovation System • Patent analysis of quantum dots, on research lineages and commercial uptake • Macro level: Technology Transfer Policy • Limits of “transfer” paradigm at the nanoscale • Interviews with licensing officials and PIs • solar photovoltaic R&D case study • Cultures of Innovation • Public culture and technology narratives, and • narrative analysis of NNI-related public research discourse Survey Result H3:nanosacle researchers find collaboration to be productive . . . But more so inside the discipline Alan G. MacDiarmid (1927 - 2007) University of Pennsylvania Nobel Prize, 2000 Education and Public Engagement programs at CNS-UCSBaim to nurture an interdisciplinary community of nano scientists & engineers (NSE), social scientists, and educators, and to achieve broader impactsthrough engagement of diverse audiences in dialogue about nanotechnology and society. CNS Tools for Outreach & Engagement Speakers series Nano-Meeter (science café) Website Newsletters Conferences and Workshops Public Presentations Blog Podcasts NanoDays community events Distribution DatabaseWeekly Clips Media outreach Policy Presentations • Formal Education • Interdisciplinary Research & Training Opportunities for Undergraduate and Graduate Students • - Graduate Research Fellowships in Social Science (5 annually) and Science & Engineering (4 annually) • - 8-week Summer Undergraduate Research Internships (4 community college & UCSB students annually) • 9 publications with Grad Fellow co-authors; 17 conference presentations • Professional development, travel funds, public engagement • Mentoring & training for 3 Postdoctoral Scholars • Curricula: CNS Seminar; 7 graduate & 8 undergrad courses with CNS content; NSF STS award for community college course development (with CNSI) • Exceeding diversity goals for student participants Faculty PI IRG Soc SciFellow Sci/Engr Fellow Leaders from NGOs, government, the private sector, science and technology and academia met to discuss technology-based solutions in energy/environment, water, food security, and health issues. Participants were from the US, Europe, and Japan, three of the largest emerging economies (China, India, and Brazil) and other developing countries. Co-sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.http://nanoequity2009.cns.ucsb.edu IRG 4 – Globalization (Appelbaum)develops a comprehensive understanding of global development and diffusion of nanotechnology with an emphasis on E and S Asia. IRG 3 – Nano Risk Perception and the Public Sphere(Harthorn)studies nanotech risk perception among experts and publics; media framing of nano risks; and methods for engaging diverse US publics in upstream deliberation about new technologies in society. • INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL COLLABORATIONS • United States • Chemical Heritage Foundation • Duke University • Quinnipiac University • Rice University • SUNY Levin Institute • SUNY New Paltz • UC Berkeley • UC Los Angeles • Univ of Washington • Univ of Wisconsin, Madison • International • Australian National University • Beijing Institute of Tech., China • Cardiff University, Wales, UK • Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique, France • Univ. of British Columbia, CA • Univ of East Anglia, UK • Univ. of Edinburgh, UK • Univ. of Sussex, UK • Venice International Univ, Italy • China’s Developmental State: Becoming a 21st Century Nanotech Leader • Rapid advances in Chinese nanotechnology due to: • high level of international collaboration • targeted governmental spending on nano-related R&D and commercialization • Nanotechnology & Sustainable Development: Comparative Study of India & China • Role of International Collaboration in Fostering High-Impact Chinese Nano Research • Publication analysis: By 2007 China equaled or possibly surpassed the U.S. in terms of total output, with a substantial increase in publication rate beginning in 2003. • Drivers of Nano commercialization in China: Patent Analysis • The Nano Value Chain: Case study of a Chinese Solar Company • Experts’ Views on the Benefits and Risks of Nanomaterials and Technologies • Expert interviews with nanoscale scientists and engineers, nanotoxicologists, regulators; nanotox publication analysis; co-funding by NSF UC CEIN for 2009 study of industry views on environmental risks • Public Deliberation about Nanotechnology R&D • Comparative US and UK deliberation on energy and health applications—both US & UK positive re: energy apps. • New Study on Gender and Risk - 6 US workshops vary groups by both gender and energy & health apps. • Emergent Public Perceptions of Benefits and Risks • Quantitative meta-analysis of 17 published surveys in US, Canada, Europe, Japan, 2002-2008 found benefit • frame predominant but 44% “not sure” • What drives perception? US survey 2008 found benefit • frame contingent on trust, affect & regulatory responsibility • Preliminary experimental UK study finds attitude • polarization when given more information • Nano and the Media Agenda • 3000 news stories since 2006 indicate no net increase of attention • to nano, episodic coverage around federal agency action and expert reports. • LexisNexis vs. Google News: substantial differences in search results • Framing of Nanotechnology • Content analysis revealed four dominant frames in US newspaper coverage: Progress, Regulation, Conflict, and Generic Risk • Testing theoretical framework combining cognitive bias, anchoring effects, and framing • 2008-2009 Highlights • 38 publications, 69 presentations • Presentations to US Congressional Nanotechnology Caucus (Harthorn), US-China Economic & Security Commission (Appelbaum), UK House of Lords (Pidgeon) • 2008 Conference: CNS/CNSI Educators Workshop - Undergraduate courses that integrate nano & society, Sept. 10-12, 2008, UCSB http://cns.ucsb.edu