Winter School

Twelfth Annual Winter School on Emerging Technologies: Accelerating Impactful Scholarship

January 3-10, 2025

The Winter School program is run by the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University with support by The National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure Coordinating Office. The program gives junior scholars and scientists an introduction to and practical experience with methods and theory for better understanding the social dimensions of emerging technologies. The 2025 program will be focused on the broad notion of impact with an aim to explore ways for participants to increase and diversify the impact of their work.

What to expect:

This year’s program will include a series of interactive sessions with academic scholars to explore a variety of ways in which research can have a positive impact beyond the specific studies involved. During the Winter School you will be able to exchange and engage with an interdisciplinary community of young scholars from around the world, discussing ways in which your academic work connects to pressing issues about and around emerging technologies. Ample work time and breaks are built into the Winter School schedule to encourage participants to guide their own learning experience throughout the week. Mentorship sessions with attending faculty will also be offered.

Why apply?

The Winter School is an immersive experience for scholars to share their own unique research and learn from peers and experts. The faculty at the Winter School will offer theoretical framings, analytical tools and hands-on lessons in how social science, natural science, and engineering research on emerging technologies can have a greater impact on the world. Participating in the Winter School will enrich your networks and provide ample opportunities to share ideas, collaborate with peers, and develop proposals to enhance the impact of your work.

Who should apply?

Applicants should be advanced graduate students or recent PhDs (post-doc or untenured faculty within three years of completing a PhD at time of application) with an expressed interest in studying emerging technologies such a nanotechnology, robotics, synthetic biology, geoengineering, artificial intelligence, etc. Applicants may come from any discipline and must be demonstrably proficient in English.

Where?

The program will spend its tenth consecutive year at Saguaro Lake Ranch in Mesa, AZ with access to Sonoran Desert hiking, kayaking on Saguaro Lake, horseback riding and relaxing by the Salt River. Check out their website here!

How much does it cost?

The program fees for accepted students will be covered by the NNCI including seven nights at Saguaro Lake Ranch, meals and local transportation from Tempe, Arizona. Participants will be responsible for their own travel to Phoenix, Arizona and should arrive before 2 p.m. on January 3rd.

UPDATE: Deadline for applications has been extended to Monday, October 14!

To learn more about the Winter School experience, please see our brief video created in 2015. Please note that the Winter School is no longer funded by the Center for Nanotechnology in Society. The section of the video currently relevant to the program encompasses 0:00 to 1:49.

For questions, please contact [email protected]