United Kingdom

The United Kingdom (UK) was an early adopter of the terms nanoscience and nanotechnology. During the late 1980s through the mid-2000s, both terms were used in the UK to refer to particular fields of research or industrial application rather than radically new approaches to organizing research. Thus, the UK policy approach to nanotechnology during this period was incremental, rather than representing any radical discontinuity. In contrast to the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative, the UK did not attempt to develop a comprehensive nanotechnology strategy. It was not until the publication of the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering Report in 2004 and the UK government's response in early 2005 that a nanotechnology-specific policy began to emerge. It is notable that in the UK, it is the implications of nanotechnologies that have been a focal point in the development of nanotechnology policy.

Nanotechnology entered the UK science policy lexicon in the mid-1980s with the inauguration of coordinated research funding mechanisms. This initiative built on the personal enthusiasm of individual lab-based scientists at the National Physical Laboratory. After what was regarded as an “early lead,” UK policy commentary is dominated by a succession of critiques of the UK government. Reports published in the late 1990s and early 2000s lamented the absence of a national research strategy for nanotechnology and the associated facilities for translating scientific research into commercially manufactured products.

Alongside these debates, and set in the context of earlier disputes about genetically modified foods, UK policy discourse has been dominated by consideration of the risks and wider social and ethical dimensions of nanotechnology. Accordingly, the UK government commissioned a Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering study, published in 2004 as “Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies: Opportunities and Uncertainties.” The report found significant areas of potential risk associated with nanotechnologies—and succeeded in catalyzing a number of government initiatives that attempted to develop a more anticipatory approach to the governance of technological risks. As a consequence, to the extent that the UK has a nanotechnology policy, it focuses on questions relating to risk and public acceptance rather than questions of research and innovation.