Center for Nanotechnology in Society (UCSB)

The Center for Nanotechnology in Society (CNS) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is a Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) founded in 2006 to bring together an international team of researchers and educators concerned with studying and facilitating the socially responsible development of nanotechnology in a global framework. CNS-UCSB is one of two such centers to receive five years of initial funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) (2006–10), which reflects efforts from NSF and [Page 81]the National Nanotechnology Initiative to fund research on the societal implications of nanotechnology.

The social science and humanities researchers at CNS-UCSB study the relationship between nanotechnology and society in four linked interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs): (1) historical context of nanotechnologies; (2) processes of innovation of nanotechnologies; (3) risk perception and social responses to nanotechnologies, including media coverage; and (4) global diffusion and development of emerging nanotechnologies. The Center pursues research that draws on a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches, integrates nanoscale engineers and other scientists with the work of social scientists, and collaborates with researchers from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Italy, China, India, and in east and southeast Asia. Additionally, CNS-UCSB is not only an educational hub for researchers, but it also provides mentor-ship, education, and outreach programs to students and community members.

The Center's four research groups bring together expertise from diverse social and behavioral science fields and speak to emerging research areas that concern Nanotechnologies, such as the domestic and global development, production, commercialization, consumption, and regulation of nanotechnology. Under IRG 1, The Historical Context of Nanotechnologies, researchers study the historical roots of contemporary nanotechnology research and development, as well as the recent progress of nanotechnologies in policy and scientific communities. IRG 1 has conducted research on the development and implementation of nanoelectronics and “spintronics,” and has collected oral histories of key people involved in the nanoenterprise. Additionally, researchers in this group are developing a history of NSF NSECs and their role in the history of nanotechnology and the development of interdisciplinary nanoscale research. Lead researchers are Patrick McCray, Cyrus Mody, and Hyungsub Choi.

The second IRG, Innovation, examines how innovation processes, as well as social and cultural factors, impact nanoscale research and development in the United States and in comparison to the UK, France, Germany, and other nations. Utilizing survey data, this research group examines nanoscale collaborative practices in science disciplines. Additionally, IRG 2 utilizes qualitative and quantitative methods to research patents in nanoscale quantum structures, technology transfer at the nanoscale, intellectual property incentives, innovation policy and indicators, and whether U.S. innovation culture supports nanoscale research. Lead researchers in this group are Chris Newfield, John Mohr, David Mowery, Gerald Barnett, and Suzanne Schotchmer.

IRG 3, Risk Perception and Media, is led by Barbara Herr Harthorn, who is also the director of CNS-UCSB, with Bruce Bimber, Nick Pidgeon, Terre Satterfield, and Milind Kandlikar. This IRG uses prospective mixed methods research to examine how different groups (i.e., scientists, regulators, and people positioned in different social locations, for example by nation, culture, gender, and race) perceive the risks and benefits of emerging nanotechnologies. Members of IRG 3 have conducted interviews with nanoscale scientists, engineers, and nanotoxicologists, conducted a national survey of U.S. public perceptions of nanotechnology, and held comparative deliberations in California and the UK on public risk perceptions of health and energy applications. Additionally, IRG 3 examines how nanotechnology is portrayed and framed in the news media.

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