CNS - Center for Nanotechnology in Society at ASU

Information about the CNS-ASU collaborators

CNS-ASU outreach, education, and research programs

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Is Nanotechnology Morally Acceptable?RTTA2 survey data suggest that a significant percentage of Americans believe the answer is "no." Addressing the Feb 15 2008 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, RTTA2 PI Dietram Scheufele presented survey results that show religion exerts far more influence on public views of technology in the United States than in Europe. Read Scheufele's blog post about this data , as well as the University of Wisconsin-Madison's press release about this research.

Apr 18 Science Cafe on "What Do You Think About a Technology You Can't Even See?": Our April Science Cafe celebrates the past two year's of cafes on nanotechnology, by bringing back many of our past presenters for an informal evening of questions and answers. We will also honor the 11 Arizona citizens who participated in the National Citizens' Technology Forum throughout the month of March; this panel wrote a Citizen's Report of concerns and recommendations regarding the use of nano-bio-info-cognitive technologies for human enhancement. More information here.

CNS-ASU gets a plug in The Bulletin Online Andrew Maynard's piece, "Setting the Nanotechnology Research Agenda," provides a nice summary of how the U.S. nanotechnology research agenda became formulated through the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, which was signed into federal law by President Bush in 2003.

National Citizens' Technology Forum to involve citizens at six locations nation-wide throughout March: Details about the NCTF here.

Preliminary Program for Gordon Research Conference on "Governing Emerging Technologies" Now Available: CNS-ASU Director Dave Guston is co-chairing the 2008 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Science and Technology, along with Rachel Ankeny of the University of Adelaide in Australia. The conference will be held in Big Sky, Montana August 17-21, 2008. Its theme is the governance of emerging technologies. Click here for the preliminary program and other conference information.

The GRC has issued a call for poster session proposals. The deadline for submission of poster abstracts is January 7, 2008, with consideration and acceptances continuing thereafter on a rolling basis as space allows. Abstracts should be 250-300 words in length and clearly describe the research question(s) addressed, the methodology employed, and the argument to be made. To submit an abstract, please email the Poster Committee Chair, Roger Pielke, Jr.

CNS-ASU has a full array of inter-related programs:

Research on the societal implications of nanotechnologies
Education in the societal dimensions of NSE at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral level
Engagement with publics, policy makers, business leaders, and NSE researchers

CNS-ASU joins Arizona State University with the University of Wisconsin – Madison, the Georgia Institute of Technology, North Carolina State University, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, and the University of Colorado, Boulder, as well as the developing International Nanotechnology and Society Network, in an unprecedented effort to build the nation’s capacity to address emerging nanotechnologies.

CNS-ASU and its research, education, and outreach activities are supported by the National Science Foundation under cooperative agreement #0531194. Any opinions, finding, and conclusions are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.