National Science Foundation Program:
Societal Dimensions of Engineering, Science, and Technology

The Societal Dimensions of Engineering, Science, and Technology program has issued an updated program announcement. It's available at http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf01152. Check the SDEST program's home page for other relevant information and links to current awards, at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/ses/sdest/. A revised home page is also being prepared.

Societal Dimensions continues to consider a wide variety of proposals for research and education about the interactions of engineering, science, technology, and society. The Ethics and Values Studies (EVS) component supports examinations of the ethical and value dimensions in those interactions. The Research on Knowledge, Science and Technology (RST) component supports research on social and strategic choices that influence knowledge production and innovations and their effects.

In EVS, the new announcement highlights the area of ethics and research in the social and behavioral sciences, including human subjects issues; in RST, it highlights research on social and cultural issues affecting goal-driven research centers. Another area of interest for the program is studies of inter-governmental efforts in support of research.