TPAC - Technology Policy and Assessment Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology

Draft Agenda

NSF Workshop on
The Social Organization of Science and Science Policy
July 13-14, 2006

National Science Foundation, Room Stafford II-555
All participants must sign in at the main NSF building, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA

The workshop will explore the social science foundations of science policy in the context of today's complex, global, and technologically-mediated society. Understanding the fundamental social processes involved in the structure and organization of science policy are crucial for maximizing the ability of science policy to enhance scientific development and innovation. This understanding requires more than an examination of economic inputs, outputs and the rational deployment of economic resources towards scientific goals; these criteria are necessary but not sufficient. In order to fully understand the formulation, acceptance, dissemination, and impacts of science policy, we also need to understand its social organization and the political, economic, and sociological context within which science policy and science succeed or flounder.

The goal of the workshop is to identify central research questions through dialogue among an interdisciplinary group of scholars from the social sciences that are working on aspects of science policy. Workshop participants will examine areas of convergence across arenas of inquiry, identify gaps in research and knowledge, and specify the most promising issues and areas most ripe for systematic and rigorous inquiry. The workshop will examine the relations among the social organization of science, policy knowledge networks and innovation and productivity. The workshop will also explore existing theories, methods and measures to determine which require further development or testing. Finally the workshop will discuss the critical next steps regarding research funding, development of data resources, and education and training. Workshop recommendations will be published in a report and posted on the Web.

Participant bios
All essays

THURSDAY, July 13, 2006

8:15	Registration begins. Coffee.
8:30	Welcome, Background, Introductions and Workshop Objectives Speakers: Senior NSF, SBE and SRS persons.
9:00-10:30	Session 1. Science Policy: Institutions and Issues Chair: Felice Levine What is science policy? What role does it play in national life? Is U.S. science policy distinctive in content or process? How do differences in organizational, cultural, economic, social, political, informational and resource environments affect the development and implementation of science policy? Dave Guston (Essay: Science Policy: Institutions and Issues) Jane Maienschein (Essay: On the Value of History of Science for the Social Sciences of Science Policy) Irwin Feller (Essay: Notes on a Social Science Research Program Directed at the Scientific Study of Science Policy) Philippe Laredo (Essay: Initial Considerations)
10:30	Break
10:45-12:15	Session 2: Knowledge and Innovation Processes Chair: Diana Rhoten (Essay: Innovation: All we really need to know we didn’t learn in kindergarten?) What do science studies offer to the understanding of innovation? What do we know about how science policies affect the practice and content of science? Scott Frickel (Essay: Science Policy for Resilient Urban Ecosystems) Geof Bowker (Essay: Scientific Data: a policy perspective) Diana Rhoten
12:15-1:15	Lunch on your own
1:15-2:45	Session 3: The Institutions of U.S. Science Chair: Irwin Feller Are the major institutions that do research in transition? If yes, from what to what? What factors are challenging those institutions? What role does policy play in those challenges? Are the trends particular to the U.S. or more general? Why? Sheila Slaughter (Essay: Political Coalitions and Support for Science & Technology Funding?) Dan Sarewitz (Essay: Institutional Ecology and Societal Outcomes) Sharon Traweek [invited]
2:45-3:00	Break
3:00-4:15	Session 4: Cultures, structures and networks of knowledge production in the conduct of research and inquiry Chair: Tom Gieryn What organizational factors affect the conduct of research? i.e., what factors enhance or inhibit trust? Shared meanings? Opportunities among scientists across disciplines? What roles do competition and collaboration play in the conduct of research? What ever happened to disciplines and specialties? Are these concepts still relevant? What makes careers in science worth earning, having, and keeping? Jason Owen-Smith (Essay: Sociology, Science Policy, and Context) Kamau Bobb (Essay: Ground Level Knowledge Gaps in U.S. Science and Mathematics Education) Cheryl Leggon (Essay: Traditional Academic Disciplines: Obstacles or Opportunities to the Conduct of Research and Inquiry)
4:15 – 4:30	Break
4:30 – 5:30	Observations from Designated Commentator Tom Gieryn, followed by general discussion

8:30-9:30	Session 5: Social processes and the generation of data: elements, categories and indicators Chair: Geof Bowker What are some of the different ways in which we produce, share and disseminate knowledge and data? What are some of the ethical challenges of these relationships? Leigh Star Rosalyn Berne (Essay: Considerations of Language, Values and Intentions in Science Policy Studies)
9:30–10:30	Session 6: International Context Chair: Philippe Laredo How are changes at the global level likely to affect U.S. research? Juan Lucena (Essay: How have changes at the global level likely to affect science and technology policy?) Susan Cozzens (Essay: U.S. Science and Technology Policy in Global Context)
10:30-10:45	Break
10:45-12:00	Session 7: How can the social sciences inform science policy? Chair: Dan Sarewitz What are the most fruitful ways for social science to inform policy making in general and science policy in particular? Ned Woodhouse (Essay: Stick with Advice Inoffensive to Science Policy Influentials?) Clark Miller (Essay: The Study of Public Reasoning) Bhaven Sampat (Essay: The Dismal Science and the Endless Frontier)
12:00-1:00	Lunch
1:00-2:30	Session 8: Taking Stock and Setting an Agenda Discussion Leaders: Beth Rubin, Patricia White, Priscilla Regan and Ronald Rainger, NSF Discussion among all participants
Concluding Remarks