viewpoint vie point Lab - scale intervention

ion, the project will investigate the consider ations that drive research agendas— normative ideals, technical challenges and funding opportunities—and that shape scientists’ visions of the future and ultimately influence policy decisions. In summary, lab-scale inter actions can improve the relevance of both social and natural scientific research. In applying their knowledge from the social sciences and humanities to laboratory research practices, embedded scholars must learn to adjust their expectations to what is scientifically and practically feasible. This might help to turn undergrounded ‘moralism’ and idealistic visions of the responsibility of scientists into more realistic and practical outcomes. Social scientists need to become sensitive to the day-to-day complexities of research practices, whereas natural scientists and engineers should be challenged to think about their research in different ways—and to acknowledge the rationality of alternative views and approaches. Ideally, the intangible concepts of sustainability, environ mental justice and social equity will become more visible within scientific practice itself. Numerous challenges remain in trying to connect science and society in the laboratory. Social and natural researchers will always have different ways of looking at the world, approaching problems and finding solutions. Colleagues and peers might greet boundary-crossing attempts with suspicion, and laboratory researchers will question the value of considering the social dimensions of their work if it does not allow for more immediate practical insights. Social researchers, by contrast, might worry about becoming co-opted, being limited to more benign forms of critique or becoming ‘token ethicists’ used to deflect societal concerns. Another important challenge is that the applications and consequences of research Social scientists need to become sensitive to the day-today complexities of research practices, whereas natural scientists and engineers should be challenged to think about their research in different ways... TECHNICAL SOCIAL Opportunities Considerations Alternatives Outcomes Fig 2 | The decision protocol.