Introduction

Abstract

After a period in which Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) stood as a cross-cutting issue under the Eigth European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (R & I), Horizon 2020, its further development and implementation has reached a crossroad. It turned out that there is a lack of consistent integration of RRI in Europe’s R & I practices (Novitzky et al. 2020), and dedicated funding for RRI is almost entirely absent in the Ninth European Union Framework Programme for R & I, Horizon Europe. At the same time, global challenges like climate change become increasingly more urgent and thus continue to call for collective efforts of scientific research and industry, policy makers and civil society. Further, the emergence of disruptive technologies like synthetic biology, artificial intelligence and robotics raises several new societal concerns. Finally, the growing disbelief in science, as shown during the Corona pandemic, demonstrates the importance of aligning R & I policy and societal values all the more. For reasons as these, the disinvestment in a dedicated Science With and For Society programme line for RRI in Horizon Europe did not result in decreased academic attention for embedding science in society. On the contrary, a dedicated research community emerged that engages in the academic discourse of RRI and tries to contribute to projects on topics such as responsible data governance, responsible AI, and responsible agroecology within the Horizon Europe framework programme, sometimes even without the use of the frame RRI.

The whack-a-mole governance challenge for AI-enabled synthetic biology: literature review and emerging frameworks

“…Vigilance is required ( Harrer, 2023 ) both to get us there, predict when we will get there, and decide what to do when we get there. The initial issue surrounds AI-synbio lab safety practices ( D’Alessandro et al, 2023 ) when the “lab” suddenly is a dispersed concept, and decisions around forbidden knowledge ( Hagendorff, 2021 ), new sets of responsibilities in the research community ( Blok and von Schomberg, 2023 ) and among health practitioners ( Achim and Zhang, 2022 ), avoidance of doom speak ( Bray, 2023 ), handling the reality of malicious actors ( Carter et al, 2023 ), and will represent an enormous challenge for reskilling and upskilling those who want to work with the topic ( Xu et al, 2022 ).…”

Exploring the dimensions of responsible research systems and cultures: a scoping review

“…Research in pursuit of diverse perspectives on what constitutes RCR across disciplines and cultures is maturing (e.g. [ 6 ]); however, the process is slow and needs further support. A crucial part of supporting the maturation process is recognizing that different epistemic communities assess the quality and moral status of research differently.…”