Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Bringing science and policy together

I applaud the comments of P.W. Singer in a recent Nature article regarding the gap between practicing scientists and people concerned with science policy/ethics. While Singer points to this gap in the context of military robotics, it is equally valid for many other areas of advanced science. In fields that are more familiar to me including drug discovery and nanomedicine, active researchers may be interested in the economic value of their creations, but not very often in long term ethical or societal implications. I believe there is a strong case to be made for required training in policy and ethics in virtually all science Ph.D. programs. Likewise a modicum of advanced training in science should be requisite for anyone with a serious interest in science policy.


http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7365/full/477399a.html