Helga Nowotny
Encyclopedia
Helga Nowotny is President of the European Research CouncilERC
and Professor emeritus of Social Studies of Science, ETH Zurich
. From 1998 on she was also Director of its Collegium Helveticum. She has been founding director of the post-graduate fellowship programme based at ETH “Society in science: the Branco Weiss Fellowship” until 2004, when she returned to her native Vienna.
She received her doctorate in law
at the University of Vienna
and her Ph. D. in sociology
at Columbia University
, New York
. She has held teaching and research positions at the Institute of Advanced Study in Vienna, King's College, Cambridge
, UK, the University of Bielefeld,
the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
in Paris. In 1981-1982 and 2003-2004 she was a Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and from 1992-1999 Permanent Fellow at Collegium Budapest/Institute of Advanced Study. Before moving to ETH Zurich
, she has been Professor and Head of the newly founded Institute for Theory and Social Studies of Science of the University of Vienna
.
and its methodology (her Ph. D. thesis) to social studies of science and technology (STS). Her work in the 70s and 80s includes topics such as scientific controversies and technological risk
s, social time, coping with uncertainty
, self-organization in science and gender
relations in science, resulting in major monographs, co- edited and edited books and numerous articles. The book Eigenzeit (1987) has been translated into several languages and between 1992 and 1995 Helga Nowotny has been President of the International Society for the Study of Time.
From the 90s onwards she focused her research activities on new topics in social studies of science and technology. She conducted an empirical study on the discovery of high-superconductivitity research and its impact on research policy (with Ulrike Felt) and increasingly on the changing relationship between science
and society
. Together with Michael Gibbon and Peter Scott she is the author of Re-Thinking Science (2001), a sequel to the influential The New Production of Knowledge (1994). Her latest works include an edited book on Cultures of Technology and the Quest for Innovation (2006) and a monograph on Insatiable curiosity: Innovation in a fragile future, which was published in German in 2005, in Italian in 2006 and in English by MIT Press
in 2008. She is also co-author of The Public Nature of Science Under Assault (2005). She has published more than 250 articles in scientific journals. Together with molecular biologist Giuseppe Testa she is currently working on a book project that traces the impact of the life sciences on society.
of the European Science Foundation
. She has been chair and member of the scientific advisory boards of numerous research institutions and policy-related committees throughout Europe. Currently, she is Chair of the International Advisory Board of the University of Vienna. From 2001 until early 2006 she was Chair of EURAB, the European Research Advisory Board of the European Commission. She is currently Vice President of the ERC
, which has been established to fund frontier research at EU level based on the sole criteria of scientific excellence and pan-European competition.
and Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
since 2006. Among other honours she has been awarded the J.D. Bernal Prize for her life-long achievements in social studies of science.
Research Council
The UK Research Councils, of which there are currently seven, are publicly-funded agencies responsible for co-ordinating and funding particular areas of research, including the arts, humanities, all areas of science and engineering...
and Professor emeritus of Social Studies of Science, ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
. From 1998 on she was also Director of its Collegium Helveticum. She has been founding director of the post-graduate fellowship programme based at ETH “Society in science: the Branco Weiss Fellowship” until 2004, when she returned to her native Vienna.
She received her doctorate in law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
and her Ph. D. in sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. She has held teaching and research positions at the Institute of Advanced Study in Vienna, King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, UK, the University of Bielefeld,
the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
The École des hautes études en sciences sociales is a leading French institution for research and higher education, a Grand Établissement. Its mission is research and research training in the social sciences, including the relationship these latter maintain with the natural and life sciences...
in Paris. In 1981-1982 and 2003-2004 she was a Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and from 1992-1999 Permanent Fellow at Collegium Budapest/Institute of Advanced Study. Before moving to ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
, she has been Professor and Head of the newly founded Institute for Theory and Social Studies of Science of the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
.
Research and Publications
Her research interests have moved from macrosociologyMacrosociology
Macrosociology is an approach to the discipline which emphasizes the analysis of social systems and populations on a large scale, at the level of social structure, and often at a necessarily high level of theoretical abstraction. Microsociology, by contrast, focuses on the individual social agency...
and its methodology (her Ph. D. thesis) to social studies of science and technology (STS). Her work in the 70s and 80s includes topics such as scientific controversies and technological risk
Risk
Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity will lead to a loss . The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists . Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks"...
s, social time, coping with uncertainty
Uncertainty
Uncertainty is a term used in subtly different ways in a number of fields, including physics, philosophy, statistics, economics, finance, insurance, psychology, sociology, engineering, and information science...
, self-organization in science and gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
relations in science, resulting in major monographs, co- edited and edited books and numerous articles. The book Eigenzeit (1987) has been translated into several languages and between 1992 and 1995 Helga Nowotny has been President of the International Society for the Study of Time.
From the 90s onwards she focused her research activities on new topics in social studies of science and technology. She conducted an empirical study on the discovery of high-superconductivitity research and its impact on research policy (with Ulrike Felt) and increasingly on the changing relationship between science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
. Together with Michael Gibbon and Peter Scott she is the author of Re-Thinking Science (2001), a sequel to the influential The New Production of Knowledge (1994). Her latest works include an edited book on Cultures of Technology and the Quest for Innovation (2006) and a monograph on Insatiable curiosity: Innovation in a fragile future, which was published in German in 2005, in Italian in 2006 and in English by MIT Press
MIT Press
The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts .-History:...
in 2008. She is also co-author of The Public Nature of Science Under Assault (2005). She has published more than 250 articles in scientific journals. Together with molecular biologist Giuseppe Testa she is currently working on a book project that traces the impact of the life sciences on society.
Research policy
Next to her teaching and research activities, carried out at several universities and research institutions in Europe, Helga Nowotny has always been intensely engaged in research policy. From 1985-1992 she was Chair of the Standing Committee for the Social SciencesSocial sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
of the European Science Foundation
European Science Foundation
The European Science Foundation is an association of 78 member organisations devoted to scientific research in 30 European countries. It is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organisation that facilitates cooperation and collaboration in European research and development, European...
. She has been chair and member of the scientific advisory boards of numerous research institutions and policy-related committees throughout Europe. Currently, she is Chair of the International Advisory Board of the University of Vienna. From 2001 until early 2006 she was Chair of EURAB, the European Research Advisory Board of the European Commission. She is currently Vice President of the ERC
European Research Council
The European Research Council is the independent body that funds investigator-driven frontier research in the European Union . It is part of the Seventh Research Framework Programme ....
, which has been established to fund frontier research at EU level based on the sole criteria of scientific excellence and pan-European competition.
Awards and Prices
Helga Nowotny is a Member of Academia EuropaeaAcademia Europaea
Academia Europæa is a European non-governmental scientific academy founded in 1988. Its members are scientists and scholars who collectively aim to promote learning, education and research. It publishes European Review through Cambridge Journals....
and Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
since 2006. Among other honours she has been awarded the J.D. Bernal Prize for her life-long achievements in social studies of science.