The converging technologies paradigm is gaining significance at the level of research programming and funding. Both at the European level and in several national environments, research is actively promoted that seeks solutions to key challenges in the fields of health, education, infrastructure and environment through innovations at the nanoscale and the synergistic combination of insights and techniques from different disciplines. In turn, this is leading to the emergence of new educational curricula and interdisciplinary specializations.
Is this indeed happening at a scale and mode that warrant expecting a major institutional re-engineering of contemporary S&T and a thematic re-orientation? This workshop will address this question by considering developments around four themes:
| Monday, 14 May 2007 |
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| 10:30 – 12:30 |
Opening Panel
Moderator: Ronald J. Pohoryles, ICCR |
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Short presentation on the NBIC project
Jacquelyne Luce, Zeppelin University
followed by statements by
Raoul Kneucker, Member of the EU High-Level Group on Converging Technologies
Alfred Nordmann, Rapporteur of EU High-Level Group on Converging Technologies
Emmanuel Glenck, Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG
Nico Stehr, Zeppelin University |
| 12:30 - 14:00 |
Lunch break |
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Session I: Converging Science and Technology: Meanings and Paradigms
Chair: Liana Giorgi, ICCR |
| 14:00 - 14:25 |
Diverging Convergences: Competing Meanings of Science and
Technology Convergence in a Local Context and Implications for
Research on Public Perceptions of Converging Technologies
Brice Laurent, Ecole des Mines de Paris & Harvard University |
| 14:25 - 14:50 |
Is it All About Human Nature? The Challenges of the Metaphysical
Research Programme of NBIC and the Question of an Ethics beyond
Risk Assessment
Arianna Ferrari, TU Darmstadt
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| 14:50 - 15:15 |
NBIC Interdisciplinarity: A Framework for a Critical Reflection on
Inter- and Transdisciplinarity of the NBIC Scenario
Jan Schmidt, Georgia Institute of Technology
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| 15:15 - 16:00 |
Discussion |
| 16:00 - 16:30 |
Coffee break |
| 16:30 - 16:55 |
Identity Work in Nanotechnology; Strategies of Institutional Settings
Monika Kurath and Mario Kaiser, University of Basel
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| 16:55 - 17:20 |
The Societal Dimensions of Nanotechnology: A Comparative Analysis
and Critique
Josephine Johnston, The Hastings Centre
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| 17:20 - 17:45 |
Converging Technologies. Visions and Real Developments in Science
and Technology
Bernd Beckert and Michael Friedewald, ISI Karlsruhe
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| 17:45 - 18:30 |
Discussion |
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| Tuesday, 15 May 2007 |
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Session II: Converging Science and Technology – Institutional Contexts
Chairs: Nico Stehr, Zeppelin University & Steve Fuller, University of Warwick |
| 09:00 - 09:25 |
Converging Epistemic Cultures? Scientific Cultures of Non-Knowledge
Karen Kastenhofer, University of Augsburg
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| 09:25 - 09:50 |
Converging Institutions. Shaping Relationships between Nanotechnologies, Economy and Society
Ingrid Ott and Christian Papilloud, University of Lueneburg
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| 09:50 - 10:15 |
What Convergence is in the Cards for Future Scientists?
Gregor Wolbring, University of Calgary, Alberta
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| 10:15 - 11:00 |
Discussion |
| 11:00 - 11:15 |
Coffee break |
| 11:15 - 11:40 |
Traditional University Organization and the Emergence of New
Technological Fields: Cambridge University and the Rise of
Biotechnology
Jong Simcha, University College London
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| 11:40 - 12:05 |
Mapping bio-nanotechnology as Dynamics of Research Specialties rather than Disciplinary and Technological Convergence
Ismael Rafols and Martin Meyer, University of Sussex, UK
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| 12:05 - 12:30 |
Material Transfer Agreements and Policy Implications. Strategies
for Research Materials in Biotechnology
Victor Rodriguez, Koenraad Debackere. University of Leuven
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| 12:30 - 13:00 |
Discussion |
| 13:00 - 14:00 |
Lunch break |
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Session III: Media Representations, Public and Popular Perceptions of Converging Technologies
Chairs: Jaqueline Luce, Zeppelin University & Liana Giorgi, ICCR |
| 14:00 - 14:25 |
The Role of the Media in the Innovation System - the Case of Converging Technologies
Susanne Giesecke, ARCS Systems Research
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| 14:25 - 14:50 |
On Boundaries, Definitions and New Fields. Converging Technologies
in the Italian Daily Press 2002-2006
Simone Arnaldi, University of Trieste & Gabriele Häbich, University of Rome
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| 14:50 - 15:15 |
Converging Technologies in Science Fiction
Thomas Michaud, University of Paris I, Sorbonne
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| 15:15 - 15:40 |
Converging Technologies; An Analysis for Technology Assessment
Karel Mulder, Delft University of Technology
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| 15:40 - 16:10 |
Discussion |
| 16:10 - 16:30 |
Coffee break |
| 16:30 - 16:55 |
Beauty or the Beast? Nanotechnology within Public
Discussion on a new Healthcare Technology
Fionagh Thomson, PEALS
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| 16:55 - 17:20 |
The Challenge to Deliberative Systems of Technological Systems
Convergence
Jim Whitman, Bradford University
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| 17:20 - 18:00 |
General Discussion |
| 18:00 |
End of Workshop |
