EAGER: A Systems Approach for Identification and Evaluation of Nanoscience and Nanomanufacturing Opportunities and Risks

自2000年国家纳米技术倡议（NNI）宣布以来，在理解纳米尺度上发生的独特物理现象以及设计和制造新的纳米尺度材料，结构和器件方面取得了重大进展。为了实现纳米技术的好处，在纳米制造领域的研究工作有所增加，这是商业化的途径。纳米产品的大规模制造带来了机遇和挑战。该项目将对纳米技术和纳米制造进行系统研究，并确定和评估与大量生产纳米材料相关的研究机会和风险。将采用系统方法收集和分析书目和专利数据。该项目将审查收集信息的新方法，研究评估信息的新模型，确定新出现的专题和分专题，并确定纳米材料制造和使用过程中的环境、健康和安全风险。这项研究的结果将指导政府和研究人员确定存在哪些研究差距，以及如何将他们的资源和投资用于解决纳米技术的重要领域。EARLY探索性研究（EAGER）项目的目标是开发新的分析模型和框架，以分析研究和创新纳米技术和纳米制造的产出。纳米技术出版物和专利数据记录从ISI Web of Science和美国专利和贸易办公室（USPTO）将被挖掘。该项目将采用主题建模和聚类，趋势分析和可视化技术开发一个监测系统，将分类和表征大量的纳米技术主题和子主题，跟踪其演变，并确定新兴的研究领域。此外，各种文本挖掘技术将用于提取和分析与纳米制造过程和大规模纳米材料生产相关的EHS数据。适当的社交媒体，书籍，杂志和期刊文章将是此分析的来源。由于纳米技术是一个快速发展的领域，跟踪它必须以比以前快得多的速度。在新的框架中，纳米技术领域的知识在主题建模将被纳入和主题在较短的时间间隔内动态更新。这是一个挑战，因为它需要在短时间内收集更密集的数据。此外，该项目是第一次尝试，包括更广泛的公众参与，以确定纳米技术的EHS风险。传统的风险评估方法是基于某些子领域的专家知识。新的方法将纳入各利益攸关方的观点和知识，包括研究人员，发明家，舆论领袖和最终用户。

Since the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) was announced in 2000, significant progress has been made in understanding the unique physical phenomena that occur at the nano-scale and in designing and making new nano-scale materials, structures and devices. To realize the benefits of nanotechnology, research efforts have increased in the area of nanomanufacturing, which is the pathway to commercialization. Large-scale manufacturing of nano-enabled products brings opportunities and challenges. This project will conduct a systematic study of nanotechnology and nanomanufacturing and identify and evaluate opportunities for research and risks associated with production of large quantities of nanomaterials. A systems approach to collect and analyze bibliographic and patent data will be used. The project will examine new methods of gathering the information and study new models to assess it. It will identify emerging topics and sub-topics and identify the environmental, health and safety (EHS) risks during the manufacture and use of nanomaterials. The results of this study will guide the government and researchers in determining what research gaps exist and how their resources and investments could be directed to address important areas in nanotechnology. The objective of this EArly Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) project is to develop new analytical models and frameworks to analyze the outputs of research and innovation nanotechnology and nanomanufacturing. Nanotechnology publication and patent data records from ISI Web of Science and US Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) will be mined. The project will employ topic modeling and clustering, trend analysis, and visualization techniques to develop a monitoring system that will classify and characterize a vast array of nanotechnology topics and subtopics, track their evolution, and identify emerging areas of research. In addition, various text mining techniques will be used to extract and analyze EHS data associated with nanomanufacturing processes and large-scale nanomaterial production. Appropriate social media, books, magazines and journal articles will be the sources for this analysis. Since nanotechnology is a rapidly developing field tracking it has to be at a much faster pace than before. In the new framework, nanotechnology domain knowledge in topic modeling will be incorporated and the topics updated dynamically in shorter time intervals. This is a challenge because it requires collecting denser data in a short period of time. Also, the project is a first attempt to include wider public participation in identifying EHS risks of nanotechnology. Conventional risk evaluation approach is based on expert knowledge in certain subfields. The new approach will incorporate the perspectives and knowledge of various stakeholders, including researchers, inventors, opinion leaders, and end-users.