Workshop: Assessing the Broader Societal Impact of Funding Techno-Scientific Research

该研究研讨会由科学与社会计划的科学、工程和技术的伦理与价值部分资助，将聚集一个跨学科的国际研究小组来解决围绕NSF“更广泛的影响”价值标准的问题。自1997年制定了现行的通用价值评估标准以来，尽管科学和工程界的成员在描述和评估提案的智力价值方面表现出了一般的能力，但许多人仍然对如何描述和评估拟议研究的更广泛影响表示困惑。本次研讨会的工作假设是，我们可以通过探索不同利益相关者关于科学和社会关系的背景信念和潜在假设如何促进对这种评估的态度形成和期望，来提高我们对科学和技术研究投资的更广泛社会影响评估的理解、沟通和决策。研讨会参与者将集中讨论“更广泛影响标准”的案例，以便(1)根据科学自由和责任的价值将这一标准置于背景下，(2)提高科学和工程界描述和评估拟议研究的更广泛影响的能力。(3)提高所有利益相关者对背景信念和潜在假设在形成评估更广泛影响的各种期望中所起作用的理解；(4)改进评估更广泛社会影响的政策制定；(5)为未来的研究奠定基础，了解科学家和工程师在评估其研究的更广泛影响方面可以发挥的作用。这个研讨会的智力价值在于它在哲学、科学、技术和社会（STS）研究、政策科学和政治科学以及更大的科学和工程社区内部和跨领域的知识和理解方面的作用。通过将科学与社会关系的一些主要研究人员聚集在一起，关注“更广泛影响标准”的作用，该项目进一步推动了对科学与社会关系中固有价值的讨论：科学的社会价值是什么？科学与政策制定之间的正确关系是什么？科学是如何影响社会价值观的？社会价值观如何影响科学？最后，这个项目不仅会引起科学技术学者的兴趣，而且会引起实践科学家和工程师的兴趣。该研讨会将由美国科学促进会的科学自由、责任和法律项目共同主办。这个研讨会的更广泛的影响与它的知识价值密切相关。讲习班将促进更广泛影响标准的实际应用，使科学界和非科学界都受益。这个工作坊将扩大代表性不足的群体的参与，不仅让他们成为工作坊的参与者，而且开放和鼓励公众参与。研讨会的研究成果将广泛传播——除了出版一期《科学与工程伦理》特刊外，PI还将开发一个网站，发布实际会议记录。此外，科学与工程伦理的论文将在研讨会之后和作为研讨会的结果撰写。

This research workshop, which is funded by the Ethics and Values in Science, Engineering and Technology component of the Science and Society Program, will gather together an interdisciplinary and international group of researchers to address issues surrounding the NSF's Broader Impacts merit criterion. Since the current generic merit review criteria were instituted in 1997, although members of the scientific and engineering community have displayed a general facility with regard to describing and assessing the Intellectual Merit of proposals, many continue to express confusion regarding how to describe and assess the Broader Impacts of proposed research. The working hypothesis of this workshop is that we can improve our understanding, communication, and decision-making related to the assessment of the broader societal impact of investments in scientific and technical research by exploring how various stakeholders' background beliefs and underlying assumptions regarding the science-society relation contribute to attitude formation and expectations regarding such assessment. Workshop participants will focus on the case of the Broader Impacts Criterion in order to (1) contextualize this criterion in terms of the values of scientific freedom and responsibility, (2) improve the scientific and engineering community's ability to describe and to assess the broader impacts of proposed research, (3) improve all stakeholders' understanding of the role background beliefs and underlying assumptions play in forming various expectations regarding the assessment of broader impacts, (4) improve policy-crafting with regard to assessing broader societal impact, and (5) lay the foundation for future research regarding the part scientists and engineers can play in assessing the broader impact of their research. The intellectual merit of this workshop lies in its role in advancing knowledge and understanding both within and across the fields of philosophy, science, technology, and society (STS) studies, the policy sciences, and political science, as well as across the larger science and engineering community. By gathering together some of the leading researchers on the science-society relation to focus on the role of the Broader Impacts Criterion, this project furthers a growing discussion of the values inherent in the science-society relationship: What is the societal value of science? What is the proper relationship between science and policy-making? How does science affect societal values? How do societal values affect science? Finally, this project will not only interest scholars of science and technology, but also practicing scientists and engineers. The workshop will be co-sponsored by the Scientific Freedom, Responsibility, and Law Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The broader impacts of this workshop are closely allied with and follow directly from its intellectual merit. The workshop will contribute to the practical application of the Broader Impacts Criterion to the benefit of both the scientific and nonscientific communities. This workshop will broaden the participation of underrepresented groups not only through their inclusion as workshop participants, but also in being open to and encouraging public participation. There will be broad dissemination of the workshop's research findings -- in addition to publishing a special issue of "Science and Engineering Ethics," the PI will develop a website to publish transcripts of the actual proceedings. Moreover, the papers for Science and Engineering Ethics are to be written after and as a result of the workshop.