Ethics, Society and Technology Rolling Grant

Purpose

The Ethics, Society and Technology Initiatives aim to implement a culture change in how Stanford prepares its students, faculty, researchers, administrators and staff to consider the ethical implications and societal consequences of technological and scientific advances. To that end, the EST Initiatives invites applications for funding to support individuals and working groups aiming to develop projects for possible external funding.  

EST Rolling Grants are an opportunity for members of the Stanford community to engage in ongoing dialogue about a specific problem, intervention, or application related to the ethical and social dimensions of scientific and technological discovery. Rolling grant funding may be used to discuss and develop a promising idea, gather preliminary data, further an ongoing collaboration, or otherwise provide support that will improve a project’s chances of receiving external funding. 

We invite proposals for individuals or working groups to produce advances in thinking and, ideally, fundable initiatives that address such questions, among many potential others: 

• How do we collaborate across different disciplinary languages, approaches to problem solving, institutional norms, funding mechanisms? 

• How do we sustain the understanding of ethical implications beyond what is taught in a particular class?

• How do we apply the lessons of bioethics to the non-medical technology sector?

• How do we develop tools or processes to support technologists and scientists in thinking about potential downstream consequences of their discoveries?

• Should we be training students to be whistleblowers?

• How do we establish confidence in scientific discoveries?

• Whose ethics?  How do we integrate race, culture, gender, religion, politics, etc, into ethics curricula and research models?

• What can we learn from companies that are engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR)?  Are there good models out there? And what distinguishes them from CSR that is just a public relations ploy? Are their metrics to evaluate and measure an enterprise’s or product’s success based upon ethical considerations?

• What policies should governments adopt to deal with ethical issues in emerging technologies? How should regulatory institutions be designed?

Examples of previously funded projects can be found on the EST Hub website.

Benefits of EST Rolling Grant Participation

• New possibilities for the visibility of your work and influence on the public debate. 

• Invitation to present your work to a broader audience of staff, students, faculty and industry partners.

• Opportunity to develop your ideas and connect with scholars across disciplines, schools, and industries.

Selection and Award Process

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Creativity. Proposals offer new and innovative contributions to understanding, evaluating, and/or educating about the ethical and social dimensions of scientific and technological development

• Impact. Inspires action across the University or outside the campus community

• Feasibility. Timeline and goals are realistic for developing a project eligible to apply for external funding by the end of the rolling grant funding period.