Davis Auditorium, Schapiro CEPSR Building, Columbia University
March 17-18, 2003

Nanotechnology at the Science-Society Interface was a short course offered in the spring of 2003 by the NSEC, MRSEC, and EMSI centers at Columbia University and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The course was held over one-and-a-half days and drew participation from various scientific disciplines and guest speakers from government and environmental fields. The overall goals of the short course were (1) to develop the participants' understanding of the depth and breadth of the relationships between science and government and science and society in the context of nanotechnology, and (2) to promote a deeper awareness of the needs and concerns of society and government as the field of nanotechnology develops as a fundamental science and as it becomes applied in a rapidly advancing society.

1. What research is being conducted in nanoscience and how does the public view the "nano" world?
2. How is nanotechnology moved from a research setting into the marketplace and society? How should society govern new technologies and technological change?
3. What is the role of government in funding and controlling nanotechnology?

Featured discussion leaders included Horst Stormer, a Columbia University physics professor and Nobel Laureate, Dan Sarewitz, senior research scholar at Columbia's Center for Science, Policy and Outcomes in Washington, D.C., and Carl Piconnatto, a former Congressional fellow working with the Mitre Corporation. The short course included lively discussion from approximately 50 graduate students and faculty from across the three sponsoring centers, as well as interested individuals from the social sciences and earth sciences.

Nanotechnology at the Science-Society Interface was developed and organized by Columbia Chemistry Professor Nicholas Turro and Tracy Morkin, a former Columbia University postdoc, now a lecturer at Emory University.