Nano
Scholars
nanoScience
and Technology Studies at USC with support from the Honors College
and USC’s NIRT grant announce the NIRT Nano-scholars program for
2006-07. Nano-scholars will pursue research in social and ethical
issues in nanotechnology (SEIN) and assist the USC nanoSTS
team with their research. Each
scholarship will be worth $3000 over the full academic year.
Two
types of Nano Scholarships are available.
1)
News
From the Bottom
Co-Editors: One to
three scholarships will be available to edit USC’s online student
journal on social and ethical issues in nanotechnology (http://schc.sc.edu/nfb/index.lassohttp://schc.sc.edu/nfb/index.lasso).
Co-editors will usually have prior experience as researchers or with
nanotechnology though this requirement may be waived in exceptional
circumstances.
2)
Researchers: Several
research scholarships will be available. These scholarships require
the students to develop their own SEIN research project with a
faculty mentor and assist that mentor with his/her SEIN
research.
All
Nano scholars will be expected to participate in and assist with nanoSTS
functions. Scholars are
also expected to meet the second Tuesday of each month during the
semester from 8:30-9:15 a.m.
Students
interested in becoming Nano Scholars should prepare a 150-250 word
statement of interest that describes the type of research they would
like to pursue along with a letter of support from the faculty
mentor with which they will work. The students should be sure to
include name, contact information, and a brief biographical sketch
describing background and preparation for pursuing this research.
Students from all disciplines are welcome to apply.
Experience with either nanotechnology or SEIN research is
desirable, but not required. Nano
scholars will be selected on the selection committee’s judgment of
the potential of the research project.
If
you are interested in pursuing SEIN research, but are either not
sure of the type of project you would like to pursue or are not sure
about who might serve as a mentor, contact Dr.
Ed Munn (contact info below) and he can assist you with
identifying possible projects and mentors.
Nano
scholarships are available to any USC student and are repeatable
from year to year. Students
who have previously applied for or held a Nano scholarship are
encouraged to reapply for further support. A committee of USC SEIN
researchers will review all applications.
This committee will make the final decisions on scholarships.
Applications for 2006-067 Scholarships are due by April 10,
2006 to Mark Stevens,
Sumwalt 103, mstevens@gwm.sc.edu.
Scholars will be advised of the committee’s decision by
April 24. For more information on the Nano Scholars program
contact Dr. Ed Munn at 777-3724, munne@sc.edu.
Information on nanoSTS
at USC including listings of faculty doing SEIN research is
available at http://nsts.nano.sc.edu/.
Nano Scholar News
News from the Bottom,
http://schc.sc.edu/nfb/, an on-line student journal devoted to work on the societal
and ethical interactions of nanotechnology, is now co-edited by two of the 2005-2006
Nano Scholars, Nidhi Kumar and Peter Coolidge.
Congratulations to two of
our 2004-2005 Nano Scholars, Ashley Shew and Kathryn Vignone, who
graduated this year. Both have started graduate programs (Virginia
Tech and Cornell) to continue their work on nanotechnology.
(Further Information Coming Soon)
Peter Coolidge (Co-Editor of News from the Bottom, http://schc.sc.edu/nfb/)
Chris Dickson (Mentor: Dr. David Berube)
Jack Ellis (Mentor: Dr. Otavio Bueno)
Jason Fairbanks (Mentor: Dr. Ann Johnson)
Josh Fowler (Mentor: Dr. Chris Robinson)
Josh Kammerer (Mentor: Dr. Ed Munn)
Nidhi Kumar (Co-Editor of News from the Bottom, http://schc.sc.edu/nfb/)
Ryan Reynolds (Mentor: Dr. Chris Toumey)
Vivek Thakur (Mentor: Dr. Davis Baird)
The Abstracting Team
Four
of our Undergraduate Scholars
[M. Glenn Prince III, J.D. Shipman, William Vigen, and Michael Yehl]
worked closely with Dr. David Berube to read important articles on
nanotechnology and post abstracts on the project’s web site.
Covering publications from Forbes to the J. of
Nanoparticle Research, the abstracts focused on three key areas:
natural sciences [emerging research, biological and chemical
applications, toxicology, and environmental impacts]; political
economy [venture capital, intellectual property, U.S. government
initiatives, and international governmental activities]; and
societal and ethical implications [popular perceptions, public
participation, ethics of science, applied ethics, impact on the
developing world, government responses to emerging technologies, and
popular culture as a tool of communication].
The
abstracting team met weekly to discuss their recent research
findings and to brainstorm ideas for the next week’s research.
They produced abstracts for more than three hundred articles
on nanotechnology.
Individual Research Projects
Four
other students were involved with more individualized research
projects. Each had a faculty mentor to work with as they explored a
diversity of issues associated with understanding the role and
significance of the newest and most far reaching aspects of the
technologies underlying the realm of the nanosciences. While the
research was individual, they met as a group every other week to
discuss the progress of their research.
Kiti
Kajana [mentor: Loren Knapp, Biology] was engaged in determining
what effect advances in nanotechnology would have on third world
countries, specifically Albania, whose economy has yet to recover
from the demise of the Soviet Union. Would Albania embrace
nanotechnology as an economic panacea to the extent that they become
a testing-ground for new discoveries affecting human health?
Ashley
Shew [mentor: Davis Baird, Philosophy] took a different approach by
recognizing that different groups in our society perceive
nanotechnology in different ways.
Thus, she was involved in codifying the ethics of
nanosciences and nanotechnology through a series of interviews with
scientists.
Jamie
McIntyre [mentor: Chris Toumey, Anthropology] delved into the nature
of the hopes and fears for the human implications of
nanotechnologies. She was particularly interested in the creation of
cyborgs and augmentations of the human body that may well change
what it is to be called human.
Kathryn
Vignone [mentor: Chris Robinson, Art] dealt with the images of
nanotechnology, and how different viewers perceive them. Is it
important how an image of a vanishingly small entity is created and
propagated in the various media though which society is presented
conceptual constructs of these materials?
Each
of these projects is a work in progress, as is the entire endeavor
inherent to the NIRT program at USC to understand the social and
ethical ramifications of nanotechnology.
Kiti, Ashley, Jamie and Kathryn presented their work in April
2004 at the USC Honors College “Discovery Day,” and will
continue to develop and refine their ideas in the upcoming year.
News From the Bottom
Working
together, the 2004-2005 Nano Scholars were also involved in the
creation of a student on-line journal, which we hope will provide a
venue for not only students and faculty at USC to voice opinions on
the implications of the advent of nanotechnology, but a forum for
students at other universities and colleges to participate as well.
NOTE: Text for this page was modified from the 2003-2004 and
2004-2005 Annual Reports (see link at left). |
