CfP: From Knowledge to Profit? Scientific Institutions and the Commercialization of Science
DATE OF WORKSHOP: 10-12 October 2016
PLACE: Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin
ORGANIZER/HOST: Research program „History of the Max Planck Society” (GMPG)
CONTACT: Jaromir Balcar, Florian Schmaltz, Alexander von Schwerin
Deadline for abstracts (250-300 words): 28 February 2016
The relationship of science and technology – often
seen as the relation of basic and applied research – is a constant theme in
science and technology studies. Especially the commercialization of scientific
research has steadily gained attention in the last years. Our workshop will
focus on scientific institutions such as universities, independent research
institutes and other national and international scientific organizations, and
the roles they play in the commercialization of science.
The
contributions to the workshop should examine the process of commercialization
in science with a special focus on scientific institutions and their internal
and external relationships in the second half of the 20th century.
Papers applying a comparative approach are especially welcome. Proposals are
invited from all relevant perspectives: science studies; history of science,
medicine and technology; cultural studies; business history; economic history;
and the history of law.
Definition and Agenda
According to
our definition, commercialization of science is the utilization of scientific
work and knowledge for commercial purposes in various ways, including ‘feedback
reactions’ of commercialization processes on scientific research. From a
historical perspective the commercialization of science is not new. Various
forms of cooperation between industry and academic science reach far back in
time, though a consensus has been reached that it has been deeply rearranged in
the last few decades. Foremost, commercial criteria now have a stronger
influence on scientific research than ever before. Some recognize a profound
transformation of academic traditions in these developments (truth oriented vs.
application; concept of mode1/mode2), others highlight the increased importance
of universities for economic development in relationship with the industry and
the state (concept of the triple helix). As an alternative it has been
suggested to analyze the different commercialization regimes of science
(Mirowski and Sent 2008).
Our starting
point is that the ways and methods of commercialization have been diverse. Processes
of commercialization affect institutions in many ways and on various
levels, comprise different dimensions and take place in specific social
contexts. The Cold War, the competition of political systems, economic crises,
privatization, deregulation, and globalization come to mind. We see the
capitalist economic system and the transformations of capitalist societies as
an overarching point of reference. However, we include processes of
commercialization in non-capitalist social systems. Our goal is to contribute
to the understanding of the temporally, regionally and nationally different
mechanisms of commercialization and their political economies in a historical
context.
Themes and research questions
The workshop
covers a broad spectrum of aspects of commercialization in the second half of
the 20th century with an emphasis on national and international
comparisons. We welcome contributions that focus on scientific institutions and
their governance, intellectual property law, financing and economics, the
practices and effects of commercialization, science policy, and discourse. Next
to the relatively often studied theme of patent protection, themes may include
the licensing of research instruments, terms and clauses in employment
contracts, publishing clauses, contract research, cooperation with industries,
convergence of civil and military research contexts (dual-use-problem),
outsourcing, start-ups and spin-offs, the architecture and spaces of technology
transfer, and the politicization and the (public) debates of problems
surrounding commercialization.
Overarching
questions are: What is the object of commercialization at universities,
independent research institutions and other scientific organizations (including
foundations, societies and associations)? When and how has the concept of
commercialization changed? What where the driving forces of commercialization
inside and outside of scientific institutions? In which ways did particular
institutions change due to commercialization processes? To what extent did the
‘market’ influence the production methods of scientific knowledge and how did
market forces change scientific practice? To what extent did commercial
viability become a criterion of scientific innovation? Who where the
significant actors in the research institutions, and how did they act in a
national and international context? Finally, we are interested in the
relationship of commercialization and knowledge and technology transfer, which
has been a dominating concept of innovation studies and science policy studies
in the last years.