Comparing Cultures of Responsible Innovation across Bioengineering Communities

生物工程界负责任创新文化的比较

• 批准号: 1540244
• 负责人: Jennifer Kuzma
• 金额: $ 34.99万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-12-01 至 2018-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1540244&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Comparing; Cultures; Responsible; Innovation; across

This action funds a three year standard grant in the cross-directorate program of Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM. Issues surrounding genetic engineering, biotechnology, and synthetic biology are contentious, especially when applied to food, the environment, and industrial applications for which direct human consent and medical benefits are not present. How researchers, developers, and policy-makers communicate about and reflect upon their work is of utmost importance to the fields of bioengineering. This research fills an important niche by encouraging those involved in biotechnology innovation systems to reflect on the ethical dimensions of their work and what it means to innovate responsibly. At the same time, this research contributes to important comparative research on conceptions of responsible innovation across four types of institutions. Increased understanding about how participants within and across various professional contexts conceive of and frame the ethical dimensions of their work can assist with future cross-sector dialogue, and potentially conflict resolution.The research employs a novel approach for comparative analyses of meanings of responsible innovation and ethics in bioengineering, while cultivating socially-responsible cultures of R&D among graduate students, faculty, and outside practitioners in genetic engineering and synthetic biology (bioengineering). It innovates in four key respects: 1) it focuses on bioengineering, specifically in areas in which engineering ethics programs have not routinely been applied, genetic engineering and synthetic biology; 2) it evaluates an example pedagogy of engaged scholarship, student facilitation of focus groups, for learning and cultivating ethical cultures; 3) it uses framings of responsible innovation and appreciative inquiry as key parts of the dialogue about ethical cultures in bioengineering; and 4) it compares meanings of responsible innovation across four sectors of bioengineering: government, academe, industry, and non-profit organizations. Twelve focus groups (three from each sector), pre- and post-surveys, and a values-mapping tool are being used for data collection. Example hypotheses tested include: 1) that participants within types of organizational communities conceptualize responsible innovation for bioengineering in similar ways sharing several secondary values as well as core values (tight coalitions); 2) participants across types of organizations differ in conceptions of responsible innovation, but share some policy core and secondary values (loose coalitions); and 3) interest in responsible innovation and ethics, on average, increase in both external-participants and internal-facilitators after the focus groups (versus pre-focus groups). The project promises to contribute to theory and methodology in Science and Technology Studies, science and technology policy, and ethics education, as well as serve as an example of the practice of "engaged scholarship," by which the activities of academe meet the needs of external communities and vice versa.

该行动为道德 STEM 文化培养跨部门计划提供为期三年的标准拨款。 围绕基因工程、生物技术和合成生物学的问题是有争议的，特别是当应用于不存在人类直接同意和医疗利益的食品、环境和工业应用时。研究人员、开发人员和政策制定者如何交流和反思他们的工作对于生物工程领域至关重要。 这项研究填补了一个重要的空白，鼓励生物技术创新系统的参与者反思其工作的道德层面以及负责任的创新意味着什么。同时，这项研究有助于对四种类型机构的负责任创新概念进行重要的比较研究。进一步了解不同专业环境内和跨不同专业背景的参与者如何构想和构建其工作的道德维度，有助于未来的跨部门对话和潜在的冲突解决。该研究采用一种新颖的方法对生物工程中负责任的创新和道德的含义进行比较分析，同时在基因工程和合成生物学的研究生、教师和外部从业者中培养对社会负责的研发文化 （生物工程）。它在四个关键方面进行创新：1）专注于生物工程，特别是在工程伦理项目尚未常规应用的领域，即基因工程和合成生物学； 2）它评估了参与学术、学生对焦点小组的促进、学习和培养道德文化的示例教学法； 3）它使用负责任的创新和欣赏性探究的框架作为生物工程伦理文化对话的关键部分； 4) 比较了生物工程四个部门（政府、学术界、工业界和非营利组织）负责任创新的含义。十二个焦点小组（每个部门三个）、事前和事后调查以及价值映射工具正在用于数据收集。测试的假设示例包括：1）不同类型的组织社区中的参与者以共享多个次要价值观和核心价值观（紧密联盟）的类似方式概念化生物工程的负责任创新； 2）不同类型组织的参与者对负责任创新的概念有所不同，但有一些共同的政策核心和次要价值观（松散联盟）； 3) 平均而言，在焦点小组之后（相对于焦点小组之前），外部参与者和内部促进者对负责任的创新和道德的兴趣都会增加。该项目致力于为科技研究、科技政策和伦理教育的理论和方法论做出贡献，并成为“参与学术”实践的典范，即学术界的活动满足外部社区的需求，反之亦然。