The Center for Nanotechnology in Society (http://www.cns.ucsb.edu) is a large-scale international collaborative enterprise that will involve social scientists, humanists, and scientific partners from across the nation and around the globe. The new UCSB facility is one of two major Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers established last fall by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the societal implications of nanotechnology. The NSF is providing about $5 million to support the UCSB center in its first five years of operation.

The program will include remarks by UCSB Chancellor Henry T. Yang, Barbara Herr Harthorn, principal investigator and co-director of CNS and a cultural anthropologist at UCSB; Christopher Newfield, a co-principal investigator at the Center who studies creativity and innovation; and Evelyn Hu, UCSB professor of electrical and computer engineering and co-director of the California NanoSystems Institute. Richard Harris, a distinguished science reporter for National Public Radio, will be the guest speaker and present a talk entitled “Nanotechnology: More Than Just a Buzzword?”

A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, and research at the scale of 1 to 100 nanometers has shown that materials that are engineered at that minute scale have novel properties and novel properties and applications. “There is potential for major breakthroughs in water filtration, solar energy, drug efficiency, computer processor speed, telecommunications, and security,” noted Hu. “The most exciting single thing may be that the nanoscale is where all the sciences converge. Though many nanotechnologies are years or decades away from the market, we have solid evidence of their enormous potential.”

One gap in existing research knowledge is an understanding of what the “nanoenterprise” actually looks like. “Nanoscale research is continuous with other research in fields like chemistry and electrical engineering, so boundaries are difficult to find,” observed Patrick McCray, a historian of science and the Center’s other co-director. “My research group will be looking at where funding is going, how research efforts are connected and where results are disseminated.” McCray will produce oral histories of the scientists at work that will preserve a record of their relationships, challenges, and decisions.

The Center’s second research group will study technological innovation and diffusion at the nanoscale. “A high rate of innovation in cutting-edge fields is now seen as one – if not the – necessary condition of a successful economy,” noted Newfield. “But we know little about how the overall innovation process  works - about the big picture of how individuals, groups, organizations, and cultures interact to help or hurt each other. We know even less about whether nanoscale research will have different requirements.” Newfield will work with professor David Seibold, an authority on group communication, to study the effect of intellectual property regulations and group structure on innovation. 

Although nanotech investment is global, most existing economic strategizing is regional or national.  To correct this, Richard Appelbaum, an economic sociologist, will examine innovation and diffusion in its global economic environment.  “If China trains ten times more nanoscale engineers than the United States, does this make nano the next big thing . . . but for someone else?”  “Or,” Appelbaum continues, “will globalized nanotech help reduce global poverty and enhance sustainable development?  We’re interested in developing the kind of knowledge that will identify the positive outcomes and make them more likely.” 

Nanoscale materials may pose environmental and health risks and generate new capacities for surveillance and privacy violations. The CNS’s third group, led by Dr. Harthorn, will examine public perception of risks, assess methods for incorporating public concerns, and analyze social movements relating to nanotechnology.  Harthorn observed that it's an "unprecedented opportunity from a research standpoint," to be able to examine the public perception of a large issue "before it hits public awareness in a big way."  Bimber will complement Harthorn’s study with an assessment of social movements in response to nanotechnology, which are already taking form around the globe.

In addition to providing a special research environment, the Center will integrate educational and research activities. “We are particularly concerned with forming the next generation of creative and ethical scientists,” said Fiona Goodchild, the Center’s associate director of education. The Center will bring community college and other students to UCSB, enhance public interest and involvement in science, and develop an information clearinghouse that will make available a wide range of publications, reports, and other data pertaining to the social understanding and implications of nanotechnology.

The new center is located in both the Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research in North Hall and the new California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) building.  The CNS’s key partner at UCSB, CNSI is one of the prestigious California Institutes for Science and Innovation and is a partnership between UCSB and UCLA.

Note to Editors: Press coverage is invited.  For more information, contact Barbara Herr Harthorn, CNS co-director, at (805) 893-3350 or by e-mail harthorn@isber.ucsb.edu  or W. Patrick McCray, CNS co-director, at (805) 893-2665 or by e-mail pmccray@cns.ucsb.edu.  Visit CNS at cns.ucsb.edu/directors_staff.html.  For a biography of Richard Harris, visit www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2100631