Posted: November 25, 2008

New Society for the Study of Nanoscience and Emerging Technologies

(Nanowerk News) The Society for the Study of Nanoscience and Emerging Technologies (S-NET) is poised to become an international organization to promote open intellectual exchange towards the advancement of knowledge and understanding of nanotechnologies in society. S-NET represents diverse communities, viewpoints, and methodologies in the social sciences and humanities. It welcomes contributions from scientists and engineers that advance the critical reflection of nanotechnologies and related developments. (See the draft mission statement below.)
The founding of the Society will coincide with its first annual conference in Seattle in September 2009. In the meantime, all informal expressions of interest to join the Society are most welcome. Please send an e-mail to [email protected].
The Society's Interim Executive Committee consists of Davis Baird, Larry Bell, Rosalyn Berne, Chris Bosso, Guillermo Foladori, David Guston, Barbara Herr Harthorn, Jennifer Kuzma , Alfred Nordmann, John Weckert. The Committee is chaired by Arie Rip.
The first conference of the Society will be held in cooperation with the University of Washington Center for Workforce Development Nanoethics Symposium. It will take place in Seattle, Washington – September 8 to 11, 2009.
Confirmed speakers at the joint event include: David Mowery (UC Berkeley), Rene von Schomberg (European Commission), Thomas Vogt (NanoCenter), Jürgen Altmann (Dortmund), Davis Baird (South Carolina), David Berube (NC State), Nigel Cameron (Illinois Insitute of Technology), David Guston (Arizona State), Douglas Kysar (Yale), Marjorie Olmstead (University of Washington), Joachim Schummer (Berlin).
Further information about the program, speakers, accommodations will be provided in the course of 2009.
The second meeting of S-NET will take place at Darmstadt Technical University (Germany) in September 2010.
The Draft Mission Statement for the society was created at a May 2008 organizational meeting at the University of South Carolina:
The Society for the Study of Nanocience and Emerging Technologies (S-NET) is an international organization to promote open intellectual exchange towards the advancement of knowledge and understanding of nanotechnology in society, including its connections with social and other technological developments. S-NET seeks participation from those working within a diversity of communities, viewpoints, and methodologies, and aspires for its intellectual conversation to be informed by this diversity. S-NET seeks interaction with stakeholders and intermediaries, as those interactions contribute to its core mission. The Society pursues its mission primarily through the organization of a regular meeting, and aims for these meetings to reflect its diversity and international membership. Concerns were expressed about there being no mention of ethics or normative concerns; these might be added in the second paragraph or in a new paragraph.
Source: Society for the Study of Nanoscience and Emerging Technologies