Seminars on the Ethical and Socioeconomic Aspects of Nanotechnologies

Teacher(s)

Nysten Bernard;

Language

English
> French-friendly

Main themes

The main themes of the seminars will be : - the economic impacts of the development of nanotechnologies, - nanomaterial toxicity, - the ethical aspects of nanotechnologies (protection of private life, ...) - societal impacts of nanotechnologies, - ...

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	The objective of these seminars are to allow students to grasp the impacts of nanotechnologies on society, particularly the ethical and the socio-economic aspects

Content

The objective of these seminars is to enable students to understand some of the potential impacts of nanotechnology on our society, in particular the ethical and socio-economic aspects. The main topics covered are selected from the following list:

• the economic impact of the development of nanotechnologies,
  
• the toxicity of nanomaterials,
  
• the ethical aspects (protection of privacy, potential military applications, etc.),
  
• societal impacts (employment, health, etc.).
  

Teaching methods

Expert seminars in the course areas, problem-based learning (student's own research work on the potential impacts of a nanotechnology or nanomaterial, tutoring).

Evaluation methods

Students are assessed on the basis of three deliverables:

• written reports on each of the expert seminars (4 pts / 20),
  
• a written report on their personal research work (8 pts / 20),
  
• an oral presentation on their personal research work (8 pts / 20).
  

Failure to submit a report or to give the oral presentation will result in failure to pass the course (overall mark limited to 8/20).
Reports and oral presentations are individual pieces of work. Any collaboration or plagiarism between students is therefore prohibited. Plagiarism of bibliographic or online resources is also prohibited. Students are required to cite all their sources, including the use of artificial intelligence tools. Failure to comply with these rules will result in an overall mark of 0 for the assessment as a whole.

Other information

Students should contact the course instructors during the first week of the second semester to determine the subject of their personal work and to be informed of the seminar programme.

Online resources

Moodle site : https://moodle.uclouvain.be/course/view.php?id=722

Faculty or entity

FYKI