The CNS-ASU Network

The Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University helps ensure “that advances in nanotechnology bring about improvements in the quality of life for all Americans” (Public Law 108-153) by pursuing its vision that research into the societal aspects of nano-scale science and engineering (NSE), carried out in close collaboration with NSE scientists and combined with public engagement, will improve deliberation and decision making about NSE. CNS-ASU builds the capacity to address the societal implications of NSE 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. Its goal is nothing less than charting a path toward new ways of organizing the production of knowledge and developing and testing new processes of anticipatory governance to meet the emerging promises and challenges of NSE.

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 other universities, individuals, and groups in the academic and private sector, as well as the developing International Nanotechnology and Society Network (INSN) at ASU.

At ASU, the project’s two guiding organizations are the Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes (CSPO), which provides an institutional home for science and technology policy scholarship and engagement, and the Biodesign Institute, which provides a substrate of NSE research and a test bed for interdisciplinary collaboration.

The capabilities of this partnership to conduct socially relevant inquiry on science and society, combined with considerable strengths in NSE research, create an unprecedented effort to build the nation’s capacity to understand and govern rapidly emerging areas of knowledge and innovation.