Science and Technology Polic
ENVS 5100

Overview and Purpose of the Course

The National Research Council posits that universities “have a double duty”:

to educate and train not only those who will have careers in research, but also those who will become entrepreneurs, managers, consultants, investors, or policy makers. Universities also can play a more active role in helping students to prepare for these roles (NRC, 1999. Capitalizing on Research in Science and Technology, Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, National Academy Press. Quote from Chapter 5) .

And the American Association for the Advancement of Science observes that to improving national science policy,

Above all, we in the research community must find ways to link R&D priority decisions more effectively to societal goals without compromising scientific excellence and the autonomy of individual researchers (AAAS, 1998. A framework for federal science policy, Board of Directors, American Association for the Advancement of Science, May).

To help fill this need, in 2003 the University of Colorado approved a new educational program to prepare students pursuing graduate degrees for careers at the intersection of science, technology and decision making. This course is the first in a 3-course sequence within the Graduate Certificate Program in Science and Technology Policy. The course is also open to anyone interested in learning more about science and technology policy.

This year’s course is going to focus on the theme of “responsible science”

Graduate study provides you with an opportunity to gain expertise within a particular disciplinary or interdisciplinary specialty. Such expertise is essential to the processes of creating new knowledge and integrating existing knowledge to produce novel insights. But society looks increasingly to experts to do more than conduct research and produce knowledge -- society looks to experts to play a central role in securing the benefits of the nation’s investment in knowledge, while at the same time, helping to protect against the misuse or unintended consequences of science and technology. In short, society expects experts to contribute to decision making in public, private and civic settings.

Science and technology result in a broad range of impacts on society. The impacts can be positive, such as the advances in health care over the twentieth century, or they can be negative, such as in the prospect of a disease escaping a lab and infecting millions of people. The impacts of science and technology on society depend on the decisions we make and decision processes we implement for the governance of science and technology. Given the central role played by science and technology in modern society it is critical to develop expertise at the interface of science, technology and decision making.

Society’s demand for more useful and more relevant research is a message that has been heard loud and clear by the scientific community, with resulting calls for an evolution of graduate education. For example, according to a report of the National Research Council, society expects those with advanced graduate training, “to contribute to new debates on public policy, to improve our competitive position in global markets, to help to create high-value jobs, and to improve the education of citizens at many levels” (NRC, 1995. Reshaping the Graduate Education of Scientists and Engineers, Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, National Academy Press. Quote from Chapter 1).

But in this context, Chubin (2000) identified science and technology policy as an important area needing attention by educators.

If we do not replenish a cadre of S&T-savvy analysts, anecdotes will dominate policy debates. While the science community mulls about the composition of its future workforce, it must also help produce the next generation of S&T policy analysts and politically conscious citizens. Between public policy/administration programs and "science and technology (S&T studies)" programs, there should be a diverse pool of potential analysts being trained and then connected, as a career choice, to the apparatus of federal policymaking (Chubin, D. 2000. Filling the policy vacuum created by OTA’s demise, Issues in Science and Technology Policy, Winter).

Yet, recognizing demand for improved connections of science and society and asserting its importance is not the same as meeting that demand. Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University, notes of the connections between science and decision making, “successful linkages between the two have been extremely difficult to forge.” He further observes

We devote very little intellectual energy toward improving our incomplete understanding of the science-policy interface and the institutions focusing on this interface. Our scientific and technical abilities far outstrip our decision making methods and ability to understand the relationship between science and its many outcomes. (M. Crow. 2001. Linking Scientific Research to Societal Outcomes, Chapter 10 pp. 129-131 in A. Teich et al. (eds.) AAAS Science and Technology Policy Yearbook (American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC).

This course seeks to introduce students to science and technology policy research and as a result, set the stage for improved understandings of science and technology, and their broader outcomes in society.

The Focus of the Course in 2012 – “Responsible Science”

In 2012 I have been asked to serve on a new committee of the National Research Council focused on “Responsible Science.” Our course will take as its central focus issues of “responsible science.” Below is the statement of task for the NRC committee that provides a bit more background to this concept and outlines the sort of questions we will be exploring this term.