Contents

Nanobio-RAISE activities

News

Publications

Selected conferences

Nanobio-RAISE activities

 1st Advanced Course on Strategic Communication and Applied Ethics in Nanobiotechnology, 11-16 March 2007, St Edmund Hall, Oxford, UK

- Preparing for the issues that are sure to arise -

The course was successfully held from 11-16 March 2007 in Oxford, UK.

The lecturers together with a group of 24 participants made the course a success. With inspiring lectures, debates, writing of your own communication plan and other exercises the participants gained more insight in Strategic Communication and Applied Ethics in nanobiotechnology.

The course was highly evaluated by the students. Please click here for the full evaluation report that summarises the participant’s feedback on the course.

A Nanobio-RAISE Hyves was established on the popular web networking site Hyves.nl soon after the course with the aim to create a long-term networking environment for further discussion and activities within the group. Most participants are now enrolled in the Hyve and share their thoughts, pictures, documents and further information including the lecturers' presentations. The Hyve will also be used to monitor further follow-up activities by participants and will serve to perform evaluations on the longer term.

The Nanobio-RAISE Second Horizon Scanning Workshop has been held on 19-20 March 2007 in Frankfurt

Food industry needs to engage

This workshop was focused on nanotechnology in relation to Food and Environment and brought together the key players in the nanobiotechnology scientific and commercial field together with the leading ethicists and public communication experts concerned with it. Its aim was to forecast the serious societal and ethical issues likely to emerge and to recommend the responses which should be made. One key point, however, that arose was the need for the food industry to start engaging in the nanotechnology debate. Already there exist applications where nanotechnology plays a role and clear explanations are sure to be demanded by the public in the future.

Drawing all the stands together

An inventory has been made of other (European) Projects that relate to nano(bio)technology and Ethics. Although such a list is never complete it is a start and it gives you an idea on what else it out there.

To see the list click here

NanoBio-RAISE at 4th CESAGen/CSG International Conference

A presentation about the Nanobio-RAISE project’s activities was given at the 4th CESAGen/CSG International Conference: “Genomics and Society - Retrospects and Prospects” on 26-28 March 2007 at the Royal Society in London which drew a packed audience. Discussion focused on the role of the social sciences and especially in improving knowledge flow between key stakeholders in the chain.

News

 Potocnik outlines balanced approach to developing nanotechnology

EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik has provided further details of what is being done to keep Europe at the forefront of the fast-moving field of nanotechnology in a safe and responsible way. Speaking at a conference in Brussels on 17 April, Mr Potocnik noted that one of the greatest challenges facing the rapidly changing field is how best to join together the three sides of the triangle of knowledge.

This has been one of the goals of the Commission's 2005 action plan on nanotechnologies. 'We wanted to improve the field from start to finish by fostering innovation; increasing investment; boosting inter-disciplinarity; creating the necessary infrastructures and expanding human resources,' said the Commissioner.

More information click here

EU public consultation safety engineered nanomaterials

Public consultation on SCENIHR Opinion on The appropriateness of the risk assessment methodology in accordance with the Technical Guidance Documents for new and existing substances for assessing the risks of nanomaterials

The European Commission has requested the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) a scientific advice on "the appropriateness of the risk assessment methodology in accordance with the Technical Guidance Documents for new and existing substances for assessing the risks of nanomaterials".

More information click here

Publications

 Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies: A review of Government's progress on its Policy Commitments

The UK independent Council for Science and Technology (CST) has published its review at the request of the UK Government on the subsequent progress of its commitments on nanotechnology policy following the UK Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering “Nanoscience and nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties” study on the health and safety, environmental, ethical and social issues that might stem from nanotechnology published in July 2004. The review is critical about the lack of funding provision made for risk assessment and toxicology research.

Please see the following link for the full report and press release

Nanotechnology: from the science to the social

"The Economic and Social Research Council has released a new report entitled 'Nanotechnology: From the Science to the Social', by Professor Stephen Wood, Professor Richard Jones and Alison Geldart. This report is the follow-up to 'The Social and Economic Challenges of Nanotechnology', published in 2003. This excellent report had a world-wide impact. It was invaluable in cutting through the hype to identify important issues for research - and indeed society as a whole. This 'second edition' brings the arguments up to date with reference to developments in science and technology, public engagement and the global economy.

Please click here for the briefing and full report

Selected events

 Nanotech Outreach workshop, 7-8 May, Leuven, Belgium

http://www.imecexpo.be/en/story14.aspx

The Nanotech Outreach Workshop invites the widest range of stakeholders to participate.
Success depends on cooperation and conversation, not only across disciplines but also between the scientific community and the public it serves.

 Summer School on Nanomedicine 10-15 June, Hensol (near Cardiff), United Kingdom

http://www.cf.ac.uk/phrmy/nanoschool07/

This Summer School will provide state of the art training across sub-disciplines of Nanomedicine. The lectures will introduce Nanomedicine at a level that will be accessible to PhD students, Postdoctoral Fellows and others new to the field, particularly early career academics, industrialists and medical doctors. Topics to be covered include: Nanomedicine – current status; Specific clinical applications; Synthesis, fabrication and characterization of nanomaterials and devices; Theory, modelling and informatics; Diagnostics, biosensors and surgical tools; Molecular and patient imaging; Nanopharmaceuticals; Tissue engineering and regeneration; Nanotoxicology and cellular fate; Regulation of Nanomedicines, diagnostics and devices; Ethical issues and societal issues. Leading European Experts in each of the sub-disciplines will teach a carefully integrated programme, and the faculty will be available all week for informal tutorials and discussions. Presentational material will be available to delegates.

 NanoBioEurope, 13-15 June, Munster, Germany

http://www.nanobio-europe.com/

Nanobiotechnology as one of todays most fascinating and challenging field of research is a multidisciplinary and fast developing research area with revolutionary innovations in almost any field of science and engineering.
The NanoBio-Europe Congress is going to present the most recent international developments in the field of nanobiotechnology and is providing a platform for interdisciplinary communication, new cooperations and projects to participants from science and industry.

 SRA-Europe 2007 Meeting, 17-19 June The Hague, The Netherlands

http://www.sraeurope2007.eu/

The 2007 conference theme is “Building bridges: issues for future risk research” and conference aims to facilitate interaction among all players in the risk field: risk experts from all disciplines, and risk stakeholders as policy makers, the private sector, NGOs and other interest groups. Nanobio-RAISE will be making a presentation entitled “Nanobiotechnology: Preparing for the likely public and policy issues”.

2nd Advanced Course on Public Communications & Applied Ethics of Nanobiotechnology –Learning from the GM debate-, 23-28 September, St Edmund Hall, Oxford, UK

The Second Nanobio-RAISE Course will be held 23-28 September 2007 in Oxford.

This five-day Advanced Course for nanobiotechnologists will enable the participants to carry out a wide variety of public communication activities discussing the social and ethical implications of their work with confidence. The programme provides leading experts in public affairs and communication, bioethics, risk assessment and regulatory affairs in the field of nanobiotechnology. Participants will be trained in writing, speaking, debating, preparing communication plans and ethical case studies applied to the various fields of nanobiotechnology.

More information about the programme and speakers will follow shortly. Click here for the first announcement.