Technology controversies have left deep marks in modern societies. Not only concrete applications (for example in agro-biotechnology) were on the agenda but also the question of what should be the subject of research and how investigations should be performed (e.g. with respect to stem cells). These controversies often go along with a demand for approving different forms of knowledge and involving various actors. Politics is confronted with the task to reach temporary compromises. To do so, it depends on expertise derived from different contexts and on involving heterogeneous actors (“governance”).

investigates technology controversies and their implications for governance. We are interested in structural patterns and forms of progression of controversies as well as in all processes that contribute to the establishment of collective rules. From an analytical point of view we depart from distinguishing conflicts over interests, over knowledge and over values. Our empirical studies focus on the relevance of research and expertise, of public attitudes and participation as well as of political processes of negotiation and decision-making. In concrete terms we look at the long-lasting struggle over biotechnology as well as at conflicts still anticipated, e.g. over nanotechnology or synthetic biology.

In several research projects, i.a. supported by an APART grant, we dealt with the phenomenon of ethicisation in technology conflicts. This refers to the finding that technologies are disputed not only in terms of possible risks but, increasingly, of ethical aspects also.

Our analyses of public attitudes towards new technologies are related to the work on ethicisation. We investigate, i.a., whether and how specific framings become influential in shaping individual assessment of technologies and thus for the emergence and development of technology controversies.

New questions for the governance of emerging technologies derive from the entanglement of knowledge production and technology development (“technoscience”), which we address in case studies on systems and synthetic biology.

The project “NanoTrust” describes in a synthetic way possible health and environmental impacts of nanotechnology. Based on these analyses, societal and regulatory aspects are being discussed in expert workshops. Thus, actively contributes to the governance of novel nano-technological developments.