Paper short abstract:

The paper analyses how bio- and nanotechnology scientists perceive the general public’s perceptions of their research and related social and ethical challenges, and how the scientists think about their responsibility when conducting research.

Paper long abstract:

The concept Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in European science policy responds to public outcries regarding technoscientific issues like mad cow disease and GMO. More generally, controversial technoscientific developments are seen to require reconsideration of science society relations. Consequently, public engagement emerges as a requirement, reflecting policymakers' belief that public engagement help developing social consensus to avoid skepticism.

This reflects a construction of the general public as fearful of and lacking knowledge about technoscience. This "deficit model" is also observed among scientists. However, recent research has shown considerable diversity with respect to scientists' imagined publics, and that these constructions affect the way scientists enact requirements about responsibility and accountability.

We investigate how scientists working in the fields of bio- and nanotechnology describe their perception of the general public, including particular publics, and how this relates to the scientists' understanding what it means for them to be responsible and accountable. For example, are scientists believing in the deficit model more interested in enacting responsibility by interacting with the public than scientists with more positive ideas about the public?

The paper is based on interviews with scientists in bio- and nanotechnology. The analysis explores interviewees' accounts of their main ethical and social concerns as scientists, and how they think about the public's concerns. Findings indicate considerable diversity, suggesting that the relationship between scientists and the public is more complex than the established policy view and observations in previous research. This poses new challenges for the implementation of responsible research and innovation measures.