Twitter

I deleted the twitter feed on this page, however, everyone is very welcome to follow me on twitter, just search for tinahoermann…

I just noticed that the last entry here is even older than my last twitter one, it’s a shame, I should really start doing something about it…
However I thought to get rid of my webpage as first of all I never ever or better to say rarely update it and second who needs a webpage when you also have a blog…
so I should start adding content more regularly….

ECREA conference

Last week I traveled to Barcelona for a presentation at the ECREA 2008 conference. My presentation: ‘Moving science communication and public engagement upstream’ was scheduled in the parallel session ’scientists, journalists and citizens: communication, roles and relations’. Here are the links to my abstract and presentation….

Summer School on Ethics of Converging Technologies

This autumn was packed with interesting seminars, workshops and a summer school in a cold and rainy place in Germany. Although the summer bit was missing, the ethicschool proved to be very interesting, offering excellent lectures and left room for discussions and networking….

Presentations 2008 – PCST 10: Bridges to the future

This June I was accepted to present a paper at the PCST 10 conference in Malmo, Sweden. The conference focussed on how public communication of science and technology can contribute to society’s awareness of the challenges and opportunities that science and technology present.

The conference included seminars and presentations on four sub-themes:

Emerging issues in science and technology; engaging and empowering scientists and the public; assessing impacts and outcomes and developing media, methods and meeting points.

My presentation titled: ‘Nanotechnology, public engagement and web 2.0′ was scheduled in a specific session on nanotechnology as an emerging issue in science and technology.

The whole conference was particularly enjoyable and rewarding as were the ‘enlightening’ discussions after the sessions and the fantastic social events in the evening. Another highlight of the conference was the ‘Copenhagen Challenge’ which served the motto: ‘Help communicate the global climate crisis! Work with colleagues from all over the world!’ Working in more than 70 groups all participants developed recommendations which can be accessed here .

Presentations 2008 – poster presentation in Paisley

It has been quite a while since the uws poster presentation in May 2008, but now I finally publish the poster here! Looking back it was quite an enjoyable event, as it was more than intersting to see what other postgraduate researchers are doing in more detail and there was a range of quite outstanding posters on display. Above are my poster and an impression from the day…

Finally, the first post for 2008:

Last Friday I gave a presentation at the annual meeting (TR-Jahrestreffen) at the University of Applied Sciences in Hannover, it was followed by quite a constructive discussion and I especially enjoyed meeting former colleagues and friends!

Upstream Nano

Last week, Andy Miah and I set up a new email discussion list: Upstream Nano. We are aiming to build a special interest group on public engagement and nanoscience and nanotechnology, where an exchange of ideas on the particularities of such work are the focus. Joining the list is simple and information can be found here.

http://upstreamnano.wordpress.com 

Responsible NanoCode

In November 2006, the Royal Society, Insight Investment and the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) came together to explore the societal and economic impact of the technical, social and commercial uncertainties related to nanotechnologies. These three partners where later joined by the Nanotechnology Knowledge Transfer Network and these four “founding” partners involved experts from various backgrounds: academics, representatives from NGOs, businesses, institutions etc., who are not only involved in researching nanotechnologies but also in its application. The aim of this working group is to develop a Code of Conduct for Responsible Nanotechnology.

The working group has now drafted the Responsible NanoCode and currently seeks  to involve interested individuals and organisations  to add comments and suggestions on the draft of the Responsible Nano Code. Check this site for further info and access to the draft.

Ideas

“While technology shapes the future, it is people who shape technology, and decide what it can and should be used for”
Kofi Annan

I cited Kofi Annan in my Masters dissertation and somehow was thinking about his words in the last few days. I am pretty sure this is related to some visionary book on biotechnology I am reading. Well, having his words in mind and relating them to nano, I am currently thinking about the extend society is aware of the various aspects of this new technology and about regulatory and ethical issues which are also relevant to it.

A couple of weeks ago I was participating in a webdialogue on nanotechnology which was initiated by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and The Pew Charitable Trusts, in cooperation with Consumers Union. This webdialogue approach actually proved to be a very good platform for a wide range of people from various backgrounds to share ideas and perceptions on nanotechnology. Although the participants in this dialogue were all somehow interested in nano and registered to take part in this, I think that the net and therefore online communication can play a vital part in advancing science communication.