Research Themes

The Center has at its core three research themes: How can we get the right balance between open and closed science and technology? How can we overcome local and global divides in science and technology? What are the historical and continuing relations between science and democracy?

Open and Closed Science and Technology: At least since the end of the second world war there has been widespread agreement that free societies are best served by generously promoting the best (as judged by experts through peer review) disinterested, open, fundamental science.  Concomitantly, national security, public health, and market uptake of discovery have seemed to demand secret / state directed / proprietary science to support the very civic stability in which open science flourishes.  Does the on-going blurring of lines between the academy, industry, the military, the state, and the public threaten the distinctness of the goals of open and closed science, and what impacts will this have on the society?

Overcoming Local and Global Divides: Science holds particular promise as an educational and value system and as an engine of innovation for overcoming local and global inequality.  Similarly, technology, appropriately contextualized and implemented, holds great promise for securing natural resources, improving educational and economic opportunity, and in mitigating armed conflict around the world.  What kinds of science governance are most likely to realize these potentials for poverty and environmental degradation mitigation, without reproducing the us/them dynamics that currently underwrites many such divides? Are there fundamental limitations to scientific and technological solutions?

Democracy: The inclusion and engagement of stakeholders and the general public in the scientific enterprise.  In all the areas upon which we have chosen to focus, the recognition and involvement of stakeholders and the general public is of fundamental importance in gaining assent to as well as regulating the science in question, assuring the best scientific workforce possible, and in defining risks, benefits, success and failure.  What models of risk and benefit sharing, the public good, lay and expert knowledge, and public understanding of and participation in science promote this optimal inclusion and governance?