Science, Technology and Society - An International Journal

Science, Technology and Society - An International Journal (Editor-in-Chief  Dr V V krishna)  has been selected for coverage in Thomson Reuter's products and services. Beginning with V.14 (1) 2009, this publication will be indexed and abstracted in:

  Social Sciences Citation Index®

Journal Citation Reports/ Social Sciences Edition

Current Contents®/Social and Behavioral Sciences

The journal is also covered by SCOPUS.

EPW Article "Delhi Metro Rail: Beyond Mass Transit" by Pritpal Randhawa of CSSP, JNU

Delhi Metro Rail: Beyond Mass Transit

by Pritpal Randhawa

Economic & Political Weekly, 21 April 2012, 47(16), pp. 25-29.

Abstract: A decade has gone since the fi rst line of metro started in Delhi in 2002. Despite its expansion across the city in the past 10 years neither pollution nor congestion levels have gone down as claimed by its advocates. An analysis of the revenue generated by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation through property development and the rise of property prices adjacent to metro routes and stations suggests that the metro is entangled with the larger process of gentrifi cation in the city. It is restructuring urban space for capital accumulation by a series of dispossessions of the poor and by giving priority to metro routes for middle class colonies. Thus the metro may fulfi l the dreams of the ruling class and their city planners of transforming Delhi into a "world class city". But so far it has failed to provide equitable mass transit to the city.

Download Full-text PDF

CfPs: National Seminar on Women's Role in Climate Resilient Agriculture & Sustainable Development, Gujarat, 4-5 Oct

National Seminar on "Value Added Science Awareness to Strengthen Women's Role in Climate Resilient Agriculture & Sustainable Development"

 

Venue: Navsari Agricultural University, Gujarat

 

Dates: 4-5 October 2012 (Tentative)

 

Seminar Themes

• Climate resilient and sustainable agricultural practices and management of animals / livestock
• Use of principles of science and simple technology / tools to reduce drudgery
• Recent and emerging Improved Agri tools and techniques
• Communication techniques to reach out to Women with all levels of education

 

Paper Submission

Papers to be submitted before 15th September 2012 to Dr. Kirit Shelat [Mobile: 9525037406] on drkiritshelat@gmail.com. Travel expenses up to Rs. 3000/- will be paid to the participants whose papers have been selected. 

 

Seminar Outcomes

Women for Climate Resilient Agriculture: A Compendium on Opportunities, Approaches and Impacts – An Indian Perspective

Context: India's mission on climate resilient agriculture proposes extensive training and capacity building of farmers to assess and develop locally relevant mitigation and adaptation strategies. The present proposal to develop a Compendium alongwith Documentary Films, Flipcharts and Posters for Women farmers towards "use of scientific methods, Climate Resilient & Sustainable Agriculture" is to assist India's initiatives deliver appropriate information, aligned with the objectives of the mission. The specific focus is on Women in farming including crops & horticulture and animal management including poultry. The outline of compendium is as follows. However, it will be firmed up after above Seminar – and deliberations and suggestions made therein will be incorporated. However, work will be initiated simultaneously.

 

Further Details

Article "Foresight Activities in the Indian Biotechnology Firms" by Pallavi Singh and Pranav N. Desai

Foresight Activities in the Indian Biotechnology Firms

By Pallavi Singh and Pranav N. Desai

Asian Biotechnology Development Review, 2012, 14(2), pp. 39-66

 

Abstract: The present article explores the status of technology foresight activities in Indian biotechnology firms ill the context and framework of sectoral innovation. It deals wit h the current uses and practices of technology foresight conducted by biotechnology firms with a particular view to the possible contributions to innovation that foresight activities might bring in an entrepreneurial context. Furthermore, the article also explores whether the perceived usefulness of different foresight methodology differs with the sector and size of a firm. With the growing advancement of knowledge based economy, the knowledge of research, development and technologies has become a driver for economic progress and stimulus for social transformation which gives manifold dimensions to decision making of the technology driven industry. This phenomenon has made technology foresight activities all the more significant.

 

Further Details

CfPs: International Conference on Technology, Innovation and Social Change, TISS Mumbai; 22-24 Jan 2013

International Conference on Technology, Innovation and Social Change

22-24 January 2013

Organised by Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

Call for Papers
The aim of the Conference is to provide a platform to academicians and practitioners from multiple disciplines to debate and deliberate on social change that is encompassed by innovation and technology. The Conference will help the Scholars to produce publishable quality of research papers.

Research Questions
The proposed International Conference will throw light on the nature, significance as well as relationship between technology, innovation and social change. We submit the following research questions to kick-start the process. These questions are indicative in nature and must not limit creative participation of scholars, practitioners and policy makers to add to the list.
1. What is the role of technology in social change in the era of globalisation?
2. How do you see changing in technology as the discourse of development? Has technology acquired a new meaning or it has become the driving force of development?
3. Is the process of social innovation caught in the discourse of technology development resulting in de-politicization of development discourse?
4. Are technology and social innovation discourse aim at structural change as an agenda of social change?
5. Is technology and social innovation subservient to global capital or has it potential to question the hegemony of global capital?
6. Are there specific technologies that have boosted enterprises and provide space for experimentation?
7. What kind of capabilities our research and educational institutions must develop to produce new technologies?
8. What kind of technologies exists and deployed for the grassroots level social transformation?
9. What is the role of Incubation Centres in promotion of technologies that are useful for social change?
10. What are the existing enterprises and models for experimenting with technologies that facilitates the process of social transformation?
and 12 more...

We invite papers, both theoretical and empirical, that address one or more research questions mentioned above. Authors can also send papers on other related research questions. They must submit an abstract in about 500 words explaining the intent for participation, research question and research plan to Dr. Rama Krishna Reddy Kummitha on his email id krishna.reddy@tiss.edu not later than August 30, 2012. The abstract must also contain authors' names, institutional affiliations, email and postal address. Authors will be notified of acceptance or otherwise by September 10, 2012.

Scholarships
Need based scholarships are available for the paper presenters. The scholarship covers registration fee, accommodation and food. Ph.D scholars will be given preference.

Key Deadlines
Extended date to send Abstract: 30 August 2012
Notification of Acceptance: 10 September 2012
Submission of Full Papers: 31 October 2012

Further Details

"Cultivation of Genetically Modified Food Crops - Prospects and Effects" -- Report Prepared by Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, India

"Cultivation of Genetically Modified Food Crops – Prospects and Effects": Thirty Seventh Report

Prepared by Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture (2011-2012), Fifteenth Lok Sabha Ministry of Agriculture (Department of Agriculture and Cooperation)

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Secretariat, August, 2012/Shravana 1934 (Saka)

Download Full-text PDF http://164.100.47.134/lsscommittee/Agriculture/GM_Report.pdf

SLS, JNU Workshop on Scientific Writing and Bioethics, 20-21st September

Two-day workshop on Scientific Writing and Bioethics

20-21st September 2012

at Auditorium, School of Life Sciences, JNU

About: Scientific writing is an integral part of the research profession. All forms of scientific journalism needs to be carefully manuscripted when it comes to ethics and precise reporting, but this makes them monotonous and boring and, therefore, difficult to retain in memory. The workshop will provide an insight to the audiences and the participants on 'how to make scientific writing ethical and easy to grasp' at the same time. Eminent speakers from some of the best institutes of the nation are here to share some of their best views and experiences on "Scientific writing and Bioethics".
Confirmed panel of speakers:
    Prof. Sunil Mukhi, TIFR, Mumbai.
    Prof. Rahul Siddharthan, IMSc, Chennai.
    Dr. D.P Kasbekar, CCMB, Hyderabad.
    Dr. Geoff Hyde, NCBS, Bangalore.
    Mr. Yateendra Joshi, Cactus Communications, Mumbai.
    Mr. M.V. Shiju, TERI University, New Delhi.

Dear all,
Registrations are open for the workshop.
Eligibility: Research scholars registered with JNU, who are towards the submission of their respective PhD's (Registered for M.Phil. /Ph.D. in or before 2009).
How to apply: Interested candidates may apply via an email containing the following details.
    Name:
    Affiliation (School and Supervisor):
    Year of registration in M.Phil/PhD program:
    A brief note (100 words) explaining why do you want to participate in the workshop:
We would encourage you to write all the details on a word document and attach the same along with the mail. This will make it easier for us to fianlise the participants.
Kindly email us at workshop2012.sls@gmail.com
Last date for applying: 8th September 2012

Further Details: http://workshop2012sls.webs.com/

Call for Applications: Society of Fellows at Harvard University

Call for Applications:  Society of Fellows at Harvard University

 

Candidates are nominated for Junior Fellowships, generally by those under whom they have studied. Applications are not accepted from the candidates themselves. A letter of nomination should include an assessment of the candidate's work and promise, complete contact information for the candidate, including current residential addresss and email address, and the names, mailing addresses, and email addresses of three additional people who agree to write letters of recommendation by the end of September at the latest. Men and women interested in any field of study are eligible for these fellowships. Nominees should be of the highest calibre of intellectual achievement, i.e. comparable to the most successful candidates for junior faculty positions at leading universities.

Upon receipt of the mailed nomination, the Society will request letters of recommendation from the referees listed, and ask the candidate to submit samples of written work (dissertation chapters, articles, papers) along with a one or two-page proposal describing the studies he or she would like to pursue while a Junior Fellow:

• The Society will request that the three additional letters of recommendation be submitted electronically - not by email, but through a link we will provide in our correspondence with the referees. After receipt of the nomination, the referees will be contacted by our office both by regular mail and email. (This is why full and accurate email addresses are necessary to process the nomination.) Full instructions for uploading letters will be provided to each referee, along with a password to enter the secure site.
• Our communication with the candidates will request that written materials be submitted both electronically through a link to our submission portal and by mail or express mail. Full instructions for uploading the C.V., list of publications, research proposal, and three samples of work will be provided, along with a password to enter the secure site.
• The candidate is requested to provide official transcripts of both undergraduate and graduate records. (Ideally, transcripts should be forwarded directly to the Society from the universities involved; however, candidates who have sealed transcripts may submit them with their mailed materials.)

On the basis of the materials submitted, the Senior Fellows select a certain number of candidates for interview. It is from this number that the final selection is made. The Society pays the traveling expenses of those candidates interviewed.
Please note: If still pursuing the Ph.D., Junior Fellows should be at the dissertation stage of their theses and be prepared to finish their degrees within a year of becoming fellows. If already a recipient of the degree, they should not be much more than a year past the Ph.D. at the time the fellowship commences. Most Junior Fellows receive the Ph.D. just prior to the start of the fellowship.
The deadline for receiving nominations for Junior Fellowships which begin July 1, 2013 is Friday, August 31, 2012. No nomination will be accepted with a postmark past the deadline. Nominations will not be accepted by email.

All letters should be sent to:

The Society of Fellows

Harvard University

78 Mount Auburn Street

Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

617-495-2485, USA

Further Details http://www.princeton.edu/funggfp/index.xml

Call for Applications: Fung Global Fellows Program 2013-14

Call for Applications: Fung Global Fellows Program 2013-14

The Fung Global Fellows Program is administered by the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies'

About the Program
Each year, the Fung Global Fellows Program will select six scholars from around the world to be in residence at Princeton for one academic year and to engage in research, writing, and collaboration around a common theme. The program includes a public seminar series where the fellows will present their work to the University community. Fellowships will be awarded through a competitive application process to scholars employed outside the United States who have demonstrated outstanding scholarly achievement, exhibit unusual intellectual promise, and are still early in their careers. 
This program is supported by a gift from William Fung, group chairman of Li & Fung, a Hong Kong-based multinational group of export and retailing companies. Fung earned a BSE in electrical engineering from Princeton in 1970 and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1972, and then began his career at the family firm. He joined Princeton's Board of Trustees in 2009, and has previously supported Princeton's groundbreaking financial aid program. "In this new age of globalization, Princeton should be even more involved in fostering scholarship everywhere it takes place," Fung said. "Through this gift, I hope to enable Princeton to become a stronger catalyst for developing new and exciting research and for creating international scholarly communities." 

Current Topic
Languages and Authority
In 2013–14, the program's inaugural year, the fellows and the accompanying seminar series will focus on how languages interact with political, social, economic, and cultural authority.  Languages can be powerful tools for expressing and asserting authority.  Yet they also constitute forms of authority in and of themselves (such as in the standardization and uniformity that they impose). Languages as forms of authority are also contested, and language communities have often formed a basis for resisting authority. Possible topics for this cycle include the ways in which languages and language use interact with globalization, empire, decolonization, nation-state formation, nationalism, language policy, language ideology, social stratification, migration, commerce and trade, social and religious movements, and the sociology of knowledge production.

Eligibility
The Fung Global Fellows Program welcomes applications from scholars who have received their Ph.D. (or the equivalent of an Anglo-American Ph.D.) within 10 years of the proposed start date of the fellowship. For a fellowship beginning in fall 2013, applicants must have received their degree no earlier than September 1, 2003.

Application
The application deadline for the 2013–14 Fung Global Fellows Program is November 1, 2012.
Interested scholars whose research engages with the theme "Languages and Authority" and who meet the eligibility criteria as outlined below are invited to submit their application online by November 1, 2012.

Apply Online: http://jobs.princeton.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=62407

Further Details: http://www.princeton.edu/funggfp/index.xml

IAS-STS Fellowship Programme 2013-2014 at Graz, Austria

INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES

ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY (IAS-STS)

 

Fellowship Programme 2013-2014

 

The IAS-STS in Graz, Austria, promotes the interdisciplinary investigation of the links and interactions between science, technology and society, as well as technology assessment and research into the development and implementation of socially and environmentally sound technologies. Broadly speaking, the IAS-STS is an institute for the enhancement of science and technology studies.

 

The IAS-STS invites researchers to apply for a stay between 1 October 2013 and 30 June 2014 as a

 

- Research Fellow (up to nine months); or,

- Visiting Scholar (shorter period, e.g. a month).

 

The IAS-STS offers excellent research infrastructure. Close co-operation with researchers at the IFZ (Inter-University Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture; see: www.ifz.aau.at), guest lectures, workshops, and conferences provide an atmosphere of creativity and scholarly discussion.

 

Furthermore, we can offer five grants, worth EUR 940 per month, for long-term Research Fellows at the IAS-STS.

 

The Fellowship Programme 2013-2014 is dedicated to projects investigating the following issues:

1. Gender – Technology – Environment

2. Life Sciences/Biotechnology

3. Sustainable and Innovative Public Procurement & Ecodesign

4. Towards Low-Carbon Energy Systems

5. Sustainable Food Systems

 Applications must be submitted to the IAS-STS by 31 December 2012.

 

Institute for Advanced Studies on Science, Technology and Society (IAS-STS)

Attn. Günter Getzinger

Kopernikusgasse 9

8010 Graz – Austria

E-mail: info@sts.tugraz.at

 

Application Forms and Further Information

Useful Book "Oxford Book Of Modern Science Writing"

The Oxford Book Of Modern Science Writing
Edited by: Richard Dawkins

Published by: Oxford University Press, New York, 2009.
ISBN: 978-0199216819
Price: INR 320

Book Summary
Boasting almost one hundred articles and book excerpts, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a breathtaking celebration of the finest writing by scientists--the best such collection in print--packed with scintillating essays on everything from "The Discovery of Lucy" to "The Terror and Vastness of the Universe."

Edited by best-selling author and renowned scientist Richard Dawkins, this sterling collection brings together exhilarating pieces by a who's who of scientists and science writers, including Stephen Pinker, Stephen Jay Gould, Martin Gardner, Albert Einstein, Julian Huxley, and many dozens more. Readers will find excerpts from bestsellers such as Douglas R. Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach, Francis Crick's Life Itself, Loren Eiseley's The Immense Journey, Daniel Dennett's Darwin's Dangerous Idea, and Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us. There are classic essays ranging from J.B.S. Haldane's "On Being the Right Size" and Garrett Hardin's "The Tragedy of the Commons" to Alan Turing's "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" and Albert Einstein's famed New York Times article on "Relativity." And readers will also discover lesser-known but engaging pieces such as Lewis Thomas's "Seven Wonders of Science," J. Robert Oppenheimer on "War and Physicists," and Freeman Dyson's memoir of studying under Hans Bethe.

Features

• An anthology of diverse and inspiring pieces to browse and to treasure, confirming science writing as a literary genre of its own.
• Captures the poetry and excitement of scientific understanding and discovery from 1900 to the present day.
• Each essay or extract has been selected and is personally introduced by Richard Dawkins, producing a collection that is as wide-ranging and intellectually substantial as it is pleasureable to read.
• Includes extracts from the works of J.B.S. Haldane, Stephen Jay Gould, Albert Einstein, D'Arcy Thompson, Alan Turing, Richard Feynman, C.P. Snow, James Watson, Martin Rees, Steve Pinker, Jared Diamond, and Erwin Schrodinger among others

Further Details

CfPs: International Conference on Creativity and Innovation at Grassroots (ICCIG 2012), TUFE, China & IIM Ahmedabad India

International Conference on Creativity and Innovation at Grassroots (ICCIG 2012)

December 3-5, 2012 at TUFE, Tianjin, China and

December 7-8, 2012 2012 at IIM, Ahmedabad, India

 

Invitation

Pursuit of inclusive innovations today is considered not only essential but also inevitable for sustainable development. However, the role of grassroots innovators in achieving such a process of development has remained less appreciated except maybe in India, China and to some extent Malaysia and Indonesia.

Including the excluded in the process of development has become a worldwide concern because the patience of the excluded is running out. The need for harmonious or inclusive development is being articulated by the major Asian economies like China and India. Other countries including the OECD ones are also debating different ways of harnessing the creative potential of masses and thus making the process of development more participatory and also innovative. The concept of the national innovation system has undergone complete transformation in India by incorporating the knowledge and innovations of common people in the formal S&T system. There is a need to bring about such a transformation everywhere. No more is the formal R&D system considered equivalent to the innovation system. Even large corporations have begun to look for ideas from strangers, users, observers and other people outside the organisation. There is no way that national governments can ignore the role grassroots innovations can play in the redesign of policies, institutions and social interactions to make society more fair and just.

Persistent efforts by numerous volunteers of the Honey Bee Network around the world over the last two and a half decades have considerably expanded the global understanding of the potential of grassroots innovators in alleviating poverty and generating sustainable development. However, a lot more remains to be done and understood. The second international conference on Creativity and Innovations at Grassroots [ICCIG] follows up the recommendations of the first ICCIG held at IIMA in collaboration with SRISTI in January 1997. The impact of the first conference was witnessed in the form of founding GIAN and later NIF. Another international workshop on Building a Global Value Chain around Green Grassroots Innovations and Traditional Knowledge [May 31 – June 2, 2007, TUFE Tianjin University of Finance and Economics] was organised to provide mentoring, incubation and online support to innovators and entrepreneurs in China, Brazil and India through a project supported by infoDev at SRISTI. The Tianjin Declaration for Promoting Green Grassroots Innovation for Harmonious Development was issued on the occasion [see annexure]. It commemorates the international solidarity for harmonious and inclusive development to support merging of grassroots, scientific, technological and institutional innovations and traditional knowledge.

It is therefore most appropriate that the second ICCIG Conference is organised from December 3rd – 5th (noon) at TUFE, Tianjin City, China and December 7th – 8th, 2012 at IIMA.

We propose to take stock of the current state of art in this field and consolidate the lessons of almost 25 years of research and action on the subject through the Honey Bee Network. We also wish to learn from other explorers who have done empirical work or are concerned about the issues raised here and wish to influence policy in various countries at different levels.

India has included Grassroots Innovations (GRI) as an inalienable part of its National Innovation System and China has also started giving considerable attention to the subject. Outside India, China has the largest database of grassroots innovations. There is a need to learn from the comparative experience of India and China pursued as a project of Grassroots Innovations for Inclusive Development (GRIID) and to explore the opportunities for scaling up this experience.

We invite you to kindly attend the two-part conference and share your insights and critique with the participants. We are also planning to discuss:

a) how open innovation platforms can be used to generate reciprocity between the formal and informal sector,

b) how the pursuit of innovation as public good can be blended with the protection of intellectual property rights of grassroots innovators,

c) what kind of eco-system interventions are needed to reduce transaction costs of innovators, investors and entrepreneurs, and regulators;

d) how policies favouring scouting, spawning and sustaining GRIID can be negotiated at national and international level providing incentives for disclosure by local communities,

e) how the youth can be engaged to overcome persistent inertia at different levels and in various sectors and spaces in various countries,

f) emerging models of supporting grassroots innovations such as the micro venture innovation fund [MVIF], technology acquisition fund [TAF] and the social initiative, innovation and entrepreneurship [SIIE] fund for creating public goods based on sustainable knowledge systems,

g) how the goals of sustainable conservation of biodiversity, other natural resources and local institutions can be blended with the goals of rapid economic growth being pursued by most countries despite current economic slowdown.

 

Chinese section of the Conference (3rd – 5th Dec):

Lessons from an Indo-Chinese comparative study of innovations will be drawn and implications for cross-cultural learning and pooling of knowledge for creating global public goods will be explored. The role of local authorities, farmers' associations, youth organisations, inventors associations, formal R&D institutions and the state S&T system in augmenting technological and institutional innovations will be studied. The entrepreneurial ecosystem for taking GRIs forward, including innovations by school children, will also be explored.

 

Indian section of the Conference (7th – 8th Dec):

Purpose: To take stock of policy, institutional, and community based processes which have helped or can help in creating an inclusive innovation system. How can IPR policies be tweaked to develop new granular models of incentivising innovative individuals and communities and also of expanding the public domain. How can multi-media, multi-language technologies be used to democratise the access to sustainable technologies globally? What are the new models for engaging professional experts for design, fabrication, validation and value addition, etc., in GRIs. How can a million strong young tech students be mobilised to attack the civilizational inertia in the region and the world.

We hope that you will send us your confirmation for participation soonest. If you wish to share your own experience with policies or institutional interventions, then please send an extended abstract of about 2-3000 words by September 10th, 2012. Please help us to spread the word so that we can learn from various efforts pursued in this direction. If you can attend only one part of the conference, please preferably join on December 3rd – 5th (noon) at TUFE, Tianjin, China.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Email: anilgb@gmail.com.