The KNOWLEDGE NBIC

  • Project team:

    Bechmann, Gotthard (Project leader); Christian Büscher

  • Funding:

    The KNOWLEDGE NBIC project was launched in Spring 2006 with the support of the European Commission’s Sixth Framework Programme.

  • Start date:

    2006

  • End date:

    2009

  • Project partners:

    The project is coordinated by Nico Stehr, Karl Mannheim Chair for Cultural Studies at Zeppelin University, Germany, and involves, in addition to the Zeppelin University team, research teams from the Universities of Warwick (UK) and Tel-Aviv (Israel), Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (ITAS, Germany), the Polish Foundation for European Scientific Cooperation and The Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences in Vienna and Paris.

  • Research group:

    Knowledge society and knowledge policy

Project description

The KNOWLEDGE NBIC project was launched in Spring 2006 with the support of the European Commission's Sixth Framework Programme. The project is a study of the patterns of knowledge production of four key S&T fields, namely nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science. These fields, it is claimed, are converging, hence the term 'Converging Technologies' or NBIC to describe them.

The project is coordinated by Nico Stehr, Karl Mannheim Chair for Cultural Studies at Zeppelin University and involves, in addition to the Zeppelin University team, research teams from the Universities of Warwick and Tel-Aviv, ITAS Karlsruhe, the Polish Foundation for European Scientific Cooperation and The Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences in Vienna and Paris.

The KNOWLEDGE NBIC project partners are carrying out historical and sociological analyses of the changing field of NBIC in order to explore its institutional settings and research trajectories. The project also involves charting public debates and processes surrounding the introduction of specific policies for monitoring and regulating new knowledge and technologies.

Publications


2010
Presentations
Büscher, C.
Die Beobachtung der Wissenschaft: Kognitive und normative Gehalte im Diskurs um die NBIC Konvergenz
2010. Rückkehr der Regulierung: Wissen, Theorie und Instrumente : Graduiertenkolleg 724 ’Auf dem Weg in die Wissensgesellschaft’, Bielefeld, 2.-3.Dezember 2010 
2009
Book Chapters
Bechmann, G.
The emerging of a new governance of knowledge. Knowledge politics
2009. The Social Sciences and Humanities : Research Trends and Collaborative Perspectives. Ed.: L. Pipiya, 168–187, Institut for the Study of Science of Russian Academy of Sciences 
Bechmann, G.; Büscher, C.; Pfersdorf, S.-P.
Converging technologies and NBIC as topics for “knowledge politics”
2009. Knowledge NBIC. Knowledge politics and new converging technologies: A social science perspective. Hrsg.: European Commission, 90–102, European Commission (EU) 
Journal Articles
Büscher, C.
Converging Technologies und NBIC als Gegenstand von Wissenspolitik?
2009. Technikfolgenabschätzung, Theorie und Praxis, 18 (2), 36–43 
Presentations
Büscher, C.
Converging technologies and NBIC as examples for knowledge politics
2009. Society for Philosophy & Technology. International Conference (SPT 2009), Enschede, Netherlands, July 7–10, 2009 
Büscher, C.
Konvergierende Technologien und NBIC als Objekt von “Wissenspolitik”
2009. 9. aprentas-Forum (2009), Basel, Switzerland, November 24, 2009 
2008
Presentations
Büscher, C.
Wissenspolitik am Beispiel von NBIC
2008. Workshop ’Wissensordnung und Technikgestaltung in der Wissenschaftsgesellschaft’, Karlsruhe, 10.-11.November 2008 
2006
Journal Articles
Bechmann, G.
Entscheidungsbezogene Wissenschaft? Neue Formen der Politikberatung
2006. Ökologisches Wirtschaften, (2006), (1), 16–19 
Presentations

Contact

Prof. Dr. Gotthard Bechmann
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS)
P.O. Box 3640
76021 Karlsruhe
Germany