History and Past Activities
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History and Past Activities |
Maarten Mentzel
Leiden, Netherlands, m.a.mentzel@planet.nl
Commercialisation of Institutions of research and higher learning: the Debate on the Mission of the University, Interdisciplinarity and research ethics
The commercialisation of public research during the last two decades has led to changes in the approach to scientific questions. On the one hand academic specialisation makes progress. A lot of research takes place in depth into small and specific fields. At the other we see a clear demand to, and a necessity of working together with more disciplines on complex problems. In this respect challenges and limitations of interdisciplinary research deserve more attention (cf. Weingart 2001, Die Stunde der Wahrheit?).
From the perspective of commercialisation of research it is furthermore rewarding to analyse the transformation of European universities. Significant are recent students protests (in Germany and the Netherlands for example) against commercialisation of education and pleas for academic freedom. Announcements of academic researchers can be heared requiring that scientific publications are for free on Internet. (Cf. Special issue Social Epistemology 1998, "Sites of knowledge production: the university".)
The paper will discuss these issues of the debate on commercialisation of institutions of research and higher learning (1), dealing especially with the renewed demand for interdisciplinarity (2).
Then a set of questions regarding research ethics in natural and social sciences will be dealt with. The paper aims (3) to map a number of significant changes in the ethical presumptions connected with increasing commercialisation of education and research. Foremost it will discuss the connections between researchers and their colleagues, between researchers and society, and between researchers and contract partners (government and industry). Attention will be paid to checks and balances by way of practices like professional codes and ethical commissions. Questions like: What to do in circumstances of conflicts of interests? How to handle with freedom of inquiry and publication? How to prevent that researchers seek for publicity although their research is still unfinished? (Cf . (Kevles 1997, The Baltimore case: a trial of politics, science, and character; D. Kennedy 1995, A new academic duty?)
Sociology of Science and Technology NETwork - last update: April 2006