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| Dissertation for the degree philosophiae doctor (PhD)at the University of Bergen |
Kamilla Anette Lein Kjølberg
Scientific environment
This four year PhD project has been funded by the Faculty of Arts. It has been located at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities/ Senter for Vitenskapsteori (SVT) at the University of Bergen, which has provided the candidate with supervision and working facilities.
The research has been undertaken in collaboration with the interdisciplinary nanoresearch platform at the University of Bergen.
Brief summary:
This PhD dissertation looks at the development of nanosciences and nanotechnologies (nanoST), a field that has gained tremendous political and economic momentum in the first decade of the 21st century. It is also a field that has provided a frame for timely discussions and explorations of governance of emerging technology, in light of its potential to change social and environmental structures both for better and worse.
The aim of this dissertation has been to understand better if, and in what way, new approaches to the governance of science could lead to ‘responsible development’ of nanoST, as commonly claimed.
Through four empirical studies the research has searched for responsible practices in
a) the research-field of Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects (ELSA) of nanoST,
b) participatory exercises,
c) uninvited public debate, and
d) a code of conduct for nanoresearch.
While the extent to which such new approaches to governance are succeeding individually has been a topic of much debate, one of the contributions of this dissertation is that it has studied four different practices as part of the same research project.
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