Center for Nanotechnology in Society (ASU)

The Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU) is the largest center for research, education, and outreach on the societal aspects of nanotechnology in the world. The institute was set up with a $6.2 million award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2005. CNS-ASU addresses the societal implications of nanoscience by creating a broad institutional network, instituting a coherent research program, promoting innovative educational opportunities, and engaging in meaningful participation and outreach activities, especially with under-represented communities. It epitomizes the vision of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act (PL 108–153). The act called for a participatory approach to the development of nanotechnology, in contrast to the top-down development of other technologies, such as nuclear, and allowed the deliberations of public officials converged with the insights of social science, on the understanding that nanotechnology research, considerations of its societal implications, and public engagement should be addressed jointly in the knowledge production process.

The Center finds its rational in a theoretical perspective that may be termed “real time technology assessment,” [Page 80]but its director David H. Guston explains its normative rationale as “ordinary people do care about what novelty in science and technology mean for them, and they should have a way of effectively engaging with how decisions that mean something for them—even in science and technology—are made.” There are strong arguments in favor of public engagement in nanotechnology governance—each actor in the nanotechnology scenario has a limited rationality, citizens are the best judges of their own interests, and finally, shared decision making provides political legitimacy for the introduction of new technologies. CNS-ASU was developed as an early attempt to build capacities for anticipatory governance—the concept of remaining informed about possible implications of a new technology—without attempting to predict the unknown. The two important guiding conceptual goals behind CNS-ASU are to increase reflexivity within the nanotechnology enterprise, and to increase society's capacity to engage in anticipatory governance of nanotechnology and other emerging technologies, or the ability to seek and understand a variety of inputs to manage emerging technologies while such management is still possible, enabling a direction of the path of nanotechnology and innovation toward more socially desirable outcomes and away from undesirable ones.

CNS-ASU pursues these goals through two interactive research programs: real-time technology assessment (RTTA), that includes the analysis of research and innovation systems, surveying public opinion and values, creating opportunities for public deliberation and participation regarding nanotechnology decision-making, and evaluating the impact of CNS-ASU activities; and two thematic research clusters (TRC) that investigate equity and responsibility, and human identity, enhancement and biology. In the coming years, CNS-ASU will replace this last program with a new program on urban design, materials, and the built environment. CNS-ASU also administers the NSF-funded SocioTechnical Integration Research (STIR) project (#0849101), an international project that studies the extent to which collaborations between social and natural scientists in research laboratories may advance responsible innovation.

The Center regularly publishes reports, papers, and articles regarding its progress and findings, and the annual Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society. It collaborates with the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) in public outreach programs, and conducts regular briefings to the U.S. Congressional Nanotechnology Caucus and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and networks with nanoscale science and engineering laboratories to introduce greater reflex-iveness in the research and development process.

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