Project Summary

Nanotechnology, the ability of scientists to manipulate individual molecules and even individual atoms, has the potential to change the world we live in. You may already be using products that utilize nanotechnology: Eddie Bauer© stain repellent pants, Wilson© tennis rackets and balls, and Kodak© digital cameras just to name a few. But these products are only the first forays into nanotechnology. The potential for revolutionary changes in the basic fundamentals of manufacturing, medicine, and technology combined with unknown consequences raises many concerns.

The societal dimensions of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSE) have been a concern since the establishment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The research undertaken by this Nanotechnology Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) probes these and other public dimensions of NSE within an analytical framework that incorporates:

1. dynamic models of the formation of public attitudes toward science
2. state science & technology policy creation and implementation
3. commercialization of academic research in NSE

This NIRT on the Public Dimensions of Nanotechnology (NSF-0403783) aims to break new ground in areas of actual, as opposed to speculative, NSE activity. In Project 1, Bruce Lewenstein and Dietram Scheufele connect media treatment of nanotechnology with longitudinal surveys of public attitudes, using and further developing their own media effects model. Projects 2 and 3 treat Pennsylvania as a case study for analyzing state policies to promote commercialization of university research in nanotechnology and actual linkages with industry. In Project 2, Roger Geiger and Paul Hallacher analyze three neglected areas of state policy: new state policies for technology creation in NSE; the performance of science federalism in this same domain; and the relation of actual state policies to the technology cycle for developing innovation. In Project 3, Geiger employs the development template created by studies of biotechnology to examine patterns of commercialization for academic research in NSE.

NEW: Final Project Report Now Available