CFP: An Open World: Science, Technology and Society in the light of Niels Bohr’s Thoughts
4-6 December 2013, University of Copenhagen
As part of the celebration of the 2013 centennial of Niels Bohr’s seminal articles on his model of the atom, the University of Copenhagen hosts an ambitious international conference, responding – with inspiration from Bohr’s ideas on an open world – to the political challenges posed by contemporary science and technology. With high level international practitioners and leading intellectuals and scholars from an unusual range of disciplines, the conference will take a principled look at emerging sciences and their inherent dangers and demands on politics, business and technological innovation.
We invite submission of abstracts on the societal-political challenges posed by new science and technology, on the role of openness and knowledge circulation in handling these challenges, and on possible institutions and procedures for better interaction between science and politics.
Humankind faces scientific breakthroughs with radical implications in many areas: from genetic engineering, nano-science and personalized medicine through big-data computing and energy technology to space weapons. Thus we encourage researchers from all disciplines to submit papers addressing emerging dangers and possibilities stemming from the relations between science, technology and society – especially, how the handling of new challenges is influenced by the conditions for free flow of ideas, science and knowledge.
- The conference is organized under four headings. Plenary sessions as well as parallel sessions, where papers are presented, follow this structure:
- Military Technologies of Tomorrow
- Global Threats and Possibilities through Science – from climate change to epidemics
- New Politics and New Economics with New Technologies: Openness?
- Scientists and Politics
Abstracts submitted to bohrconf2013@cast.ku.dk no later than September 1, 2013 will be swiftly reviewed and the selected papers circulated ahead of the conference, discussed and become part of the process leading to a new ‘open letter’ from the conference and a volume with key contributions. Please be aware that the number of slots available is limited.
For any questions, please contact Ole Wæver.
To view or download the complete CFP, please see the conference website.
