Science and Technology Policy
One advantage of being a graduate student at a university was being able to take classes outside of my field. It was tremendously helpful in the process of career exploration. I took a course in public policy for science and technology. It was fascinating and led me to work for the California state government. I had never realized that our current national system of financing research was born out of the government subsidizing research during World War II and it’s aftermath. While there is politicalization of science, it was heartening to see when I was reading congressional testimonies that there is actually pretty broad support for research.
I used the projects in the course to research topics that were interesting to me. The first was looking at funding controversies for a translational research center. Interestingly, a lot of push-back for creating the center came from scientists. It was a case study in how poor communication created conflict. Researchers in basic science were afraid that funding the center would come at the cost of reducing funding for basic science. I also researched the growing field of synthetic biology, which generates debate because it’s considered a dual use technology. This means that the same technology that brings progress can also bring harm. Finally, I researched the issue of deemed exports. I was drawn to the topic after watching many of the international students I work with struggle with visa issues. Deemed exports is a rule that if a foreign national views a technology that is considered controlled it is equivalent to exporting that technology to the foreign national’s country of origin. It’s generated controversy since research is an international venture, especially at academic institutions.