The Gordon Research Seminar on Science & Technology Policy is a unique forum for graduate students, post-docs, and other scientists with comparable levels of experience and education to present and exchange new data and cutting edge ideas. Junior scholars and practitioners in economics, science and engineering, science and technology policy, and science and technology studies will present their work. This year's GRS-STP is the first ever, organized by graduate students to accompany the successful series of Gordon Conferences on Science and Technology Policy; its theme is "The International Context of Science and Technology Policy". It will take place on the two days preceding the main GRC in Waterville, NH.
The GRS is designed to strengthen the community of science and technology policy scholars, which it accomplishes in several ways. First, junior scholars in the several disciplinary areas of STS, economics, and science and technology policy have a chance to see what each of these perspectives has to offer the others and to make professional contacts that can help reinforce those connections as they develop professionally. Second, several senior figures in the field play mentor roles, including two economists and two policy scholars. The seminar includes a career panel of recent graduates who have gone into science and technology policy research or practice. Finally, this seminar represents a significantly higher level of diversity and inclusion than most Gordon Conferences, including multiple organizers and speakers who are African American and Latino and women, who are still under-represented in science and technology policy as a field. The organizers have reached out actively to HBCU campuses to maximize the participation of underrepresented groups and to build research capacity in the areas of science, technology, and society; economics; and the science of science and innovation policy.
The Gordon-Kenan Research Seminar on SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY POLICY was held at Waterville Valley, Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, August 4-5, 2012. The Seminar was well-attended with 47 participants (attendees list attached). The attendees represented the spectrum of endeavor in this field coming from academia, industry, and government laboratories, both U.S. and foreign scientists, senior researchers, young investigators, and students. Of the 47 attendees, 30 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 30 respondents, 47% were Minorities – 10% Hispanic, 17% Asian and 20% African American. Approximately 70% of the participants at the 2012 meeting were women. The Gordon Research Conference on SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY POLICY was held at Waterville Valley, Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, August 5-10, 2012. The Conference was well-attended with 120 participants (attendees list attached). The attendees represented the spectrum of endeavor in this field coming from academia, industry, and government laboratories, both U.S. and foreign scientists, senior researchers, young investigators, and students. Of the 120 attendees, 71 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 30 respondents, 25% were Minorities – 4% Hispanic, 10% Asian and 11% African American. Approximately 50% of the participants at the 2012 meeting were women. In designing the formal speakers program, emphasis was placed on current unpublished research and discussion of the future target areas in this field. There was a conscious effort to stimulate lively discussion about the key issues in the field today. Time for formal presentations was limited in the interest of group discussions. In order that more scientists could communicate their most recent results, poster presentation time was scheduled. Attached is a copy of the formal schedule and speaker program and the poster program. In addition to these formal interactions, "free time" was scheduled to allow informal discussions. Such discussions are fostering new collaborations and joint efforts in the field.
