CFP: Science and Engineering Ethics: Ethics in Modern Universities of Technology: Challenges of the 21st Century

Issue editors:  Stephanie J. Bird, Jeroen van den Hoven and Behnam Taebi

The challenges of the 21st century will fully reflect on universities of technology. The world population is growing while countries pursue higher levels of global well-being. Increasing energy demands and the resulting problems of climate change are only two of the many major challenges humanity is facing in this century. Universities of technology have an essential role to play in meeting these challenges by generating scientific knowledge, achieving technological breakthroughs and educating scientists and engineers to think and work for the public good. 

The aim of this volume is to address the ethical issues that arise for institutions of higher education in the field of engineering and applied science. Its main focus will be on specific issues at universities of technology, more specifically on the relationships of academic researchers with industrial partners, commerce and innovation in profit organizations. Scientific research is expected to be in the service of society. It has been argued that an important indicator for measuring social relevance is the willingness of industry to invest in research.  In many countries, there is an upsurge in government policies aimed at encouraging academic-industry collaborations. Universities are expected to facilitate knowledge transfer to industry, by means of systematic collaborations. The main idea behind these policies is that research in which industry is willing to invest is marketable and, hence, socially relevant. A university’s research income - especially for universities of technology - will increasingly depend on these collaborations. This raises the question of how to design and implement institutional arrangements in order to anticipate and deal with potential conflicts of interest that might occur, and the effects these could have on the independence of scientific judgment. In addition, the fact that more scientists will be working in academia and industry could raise intricate ethical questions.

Contributions of approx. 5000 words are invited on the following topics:

• The role of financial incentives in science
• Institutional corruption in academia
• Design and monitoring of regulations governing university-industry relations
• Corporate governance in technical universities
• The role of boards of trustees
• Potential conflicts of interest
• Spin offs and entrepreneurship
• Dual use and military funded research
• Teaching ethics to current and future engineers

Abstracts of not more than 200 words should be submitted to Behnam Taebi ([email protected]) by 30 April 2013.  Potential contributors will be notified of theeditors' decision by 15 May 2013 and receive further information regarding the formal requirements of the papers. General Information can also be found on the website of Science and Engineering Ethics (see Instruction for Authors): http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/applied+ethics/journal/11948 

Full papers, double-spaced and in 12 pt font are due 31 July 2013.  Manuscripts will be reviewed according to the standard double-blind peer review procedure.