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(Complexity, unknown artist)| “Private-public partnership: the interplay of science and industry, research and innovation (Case Study B, Austria)” Investigator: Karen Kastenhofer In their article “The changing norms of the life sciences” Shorett et al. (2003) claim that “the development of biotechnology served as an important benchmark in bringing ‘public’ scientific discovery and ‘private’ product development into more overt and explicit contact. (…) The venture capital market, the growth of biotechnology startups, and the convergence of university and industry in areas of scientific labor and technology transfer have built a robust infrastructure linking the laboratory directly to commercial outlets. (…) [This mutual interdependence] requires fresh self-reflection by those who are directly involved as well as those who consider themselves exempt from its influence.” For systems biology – as for other areas within emerging technosciences – the relation between the public and the private sector, between science and industry and between basic research and marketable products is central, nontrivial and takes on increasingly innovative and divers forms (cf. Hood/Perlmutter 2004, Thiel 2006, An et al. 2007). To empirically address this issue and possible scientific, socio-cultural and economic implications, this work package investigates exemplary cases, based upon an empirical analysis of the institutionalisation of systems biology in Austria. It concentrates on the interconnection between epistemic networks, actor networks and funding schemes as well as on the chains of translation of basic research into applications, patents and products. It provides insights into how systems biology knowledge, objects, techniques and research institutions relate to technological innovation, product development and industry. Contact: Dr.in Mag.a Karen Kastenhofer Institut für Technikfolgen-Abschätzung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Strohgasse 45, 1030 Wien Tel.: +43-1-51581-6580 Fax: +43-1-7109883 e-mail: kkast(at)oeaw.ac.at http://www.oeaw.ac.at/ita/kastenhofer/ |
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