The CNS-ASU Program

Undergraduate Training

Undergraduate Training. CNS-ASU has already developed three undergraduate courses related to nanotechnology; "Elements of Public Policy - Science and Technology Policy", "Justice and the Future" and "Perspectives in Nanotechnology".

CNS-ASU is developing integrative courses for ASU’s Learning Communities (LC) initiative, in which thematically linked courses, taught in different departments but taken simultaneously by a cohort of undergraduates, bring different disciplinary perspectives to bear on an important societal issue, e.g., “Nanotechnology in Society.” Our LC, to be offered Spring 2007, will be designed for sophomore or higher students and will include an introductory technical course focusing on nanotechnology, a course on the societal aspects of nanotechnology, and a politics- and policy-oriented course. LC students will be able to observe and/or participate in the Scenario Development workshops and InnovationSpace activities each year and in National Citizens’ Technology Forums in year 3. LC will also serve as an important gateway for students to participate as research assistants for the Center (click here for the syllabus on Learning Communities).

CNS-ASU will also develop (for AY 06-07) a year-long, senior-level InnovationSpace course on NSE that provides design, business, and engineering training for a real-world product outcome. A joint venture among ASU’s School of Design, the Fulton School of Engineering, and the Carey School of Business, InnovationSpace involves faculty and students from each school in a hands-on, product development laboratory to develop user scenarios, define new product offerings, build or conceive engineering prototypes, and create business plans and visual materials to communicate the end results. The nanotechnology InnovationSpace anticipates 2 teams of four students each year, pursuing a year-long project addressing one of the Center’s cross-cutting research themes.

To view the syllabus for the Learning Community, click here.

To view the syllabus for "Bioethics and the Brain", click here

Graduate Training

CNS-ASU provides research training to supported graduate students in the Center’s RTTA and Thematic Research Cluster programs. The Center funds four CNS graduate students and co-funds three CNS/Biodesign graduate fellows and two CNS/CRESMET graduate fellows.

CNS-ASU has developed a graduate seminar, “Science, Technology, and Societal Outcomes,” that will train natural scientists, social scientists, and humanists in the methods of Real-Time Technology Assessment.

CNS-ASU will also develop a second graduate seminar that will extend the InnovationSpace concept to the graduate level, involving students and faculty from the schools of engineering, design, and business, as well as liberal arts and sciences.

CNS-ASU is implementing the “PhD plus” by requiring NSE doctoral students to include, as an element of their dissertations, a chapter on the societal context of their research. Students will be matched with a mentor, drawn from the network’s social scientists or humanists, who will also serve on the student’s thesis committee.