Search news
Most searched tags
Praise for NIA Workshop on ‘Public Communication and Applied Ethics for Nanotechnologists’
Published: Tuesday 30 June 2009
‘This is the best workshop which I have ever attended!’ was the comment a University Reader in Nanotechnology wrote on his evaluation form of the ‘Advanced Workshop Course in Public Communication and Applied Ethics for Nanotechnologists’. *
The course had been organised by a consortium consisting of the Nanotechnbology Industries Association, Cambridge Biomedical Consultants Ltd, and St Edmund College, Oxford, and was funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Ingenious Programme (Ingenious – engaging citizens; engaging engineers).
21 international representatives from academia and industry attended this year’s 5-day intensive course and received training in a number of disciplines relevant to public communication and applied ethics:
- Media training
- Communication training
- Science communication theory
- Risk assessment
- Risk perception
- Societal issues
- Legal issues
- Ethics
The participants’ backgrounds were as diverse and complex as the topics they signed up to learn about and discuss (see Figure below).
The balance of topics and smooth execution of the course received special praise:
‘The course was excellent.’ (Research Fellow in Law)
‘Yes, high expectations that were obviously met.’ (Researcher in corporate social responsibility)
‘Well arranged and executed course! Good, really. Will recommend.’ (Scientific Officer, European Food Safety Authority’)
We are grateful to the team at Cambridge Biomedical Consultants Ltd and St Edmund College, Oxford, for their outstanding achievements in bringing together and delivering this highly praised course. *
Registered NIA Members can download the full Course Evaluation Report from the ‘Members only’-area of the NIA website, by following the link to ‘Restricted Documents & Publications’.
* Acknowledgement
This course was organised under the auspices of the Nanotechnology Industries Association and kindly funded by The Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious Public Engagement Grants Programme to provide funding for projects that enable engineers to enhance their public engagement skills, consider the societal implications of their work and take part in debate with the public on engineering and its impact on society.
This project was executed and managed by Dr. David Bennett and Serene Chi of the Nanobio-RAISE office in the Technology University of Delft with generous support from international acclaimed experts Prof. Richard Jones, Dr. Frans Kampers, Prof. Ken Donaldson, Dr. Craig Poland, Mr. Richard Hayhurst, Dr. Barry Park, Prof. Julian Kinderlerer, Dr. Mike Adcock, Prof. Alfred Nordmann, Dr. Arianna Ferrari, Mr. Mark Cantley, Ms. Nicola Buckley, Prof. George Gaskell, Prof. John Adams, Dr. Bernard Dixon, Mr. Peter Evans and kind support from St. Edmund Hall of the University of Oxford.
Course Organisers
