Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons^™

Policy Makers’ Influence On The Emergence Of A New Scientific Discipline: The Case Of Nanotechnology In Ireland, Nicolas Battard

Doctoral

Science has undergone tremendous changes since World War II with the blurring of boundaries between science, government, and industry, as well as the so-called convergence of scientific disciplines. Nanotechnology is an illustrative example of this phenomenon. Boundaries between all these spheres are challenged, renegotiated, and reshaped under the influence of the multiple actors involved. I question here the extent to which nanoscience and nanotechnology (N&N) are emerging as a new scientific discipline under the influence of science and technology policies. With the study of N&N in Ireland from the late 1990s onwards, a focus is placed on both the macro-meso …