Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science, and the Public

Major scientific breakthroughs deepen our understanding of nature and ourselves. Such discoveries have the potential to transform our everyday lives. Yet the same science that holds promise for progress often raises concerns and questions for society.

We enable global conversations on the ethical issues raised by discovery science by conducting public engagement at the early stages of scientific discovery. This empowers scientists to consider and navigate ethical and societal concerns. We specialise in creating the conditions for conversations between scientists and members of the public.

Watch the launch film for both our centre in Cambridge, UK, and our sister centre in Berkeley, CA, here:

The Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science, and the Public aims to have a positive impact on both science and society because we:

• Conduct public engagement at early stages of scientific discovery
• Enhance and evolve societal awareness of discovery ethics of science globally, including diverse communities
• Empower scientists to consider and navigate ethical and societal concerns
• Enable the inclusion of societal perspectives as part of research and policy development

Watch our pitch film submitted to the Kavli Foundation here:

Recognising that both ‘the public’ and ‘scientists’ are mixed groups with many communities, values and interests, the Kavli Centre pursues new ways to build communication bridges between….

• Public audiences
• Scientists
• Public engagement and communication professionals
• Ethicists
• Social scientists
• Community groups
• Health Professionals

The Kavli Centre delivers its research and engagement strategy….

• By facilitating encounters between members of the public and scientists to discuss and deliberate on the societal and ethical questions associated with science
• By researching new approaches of engaging scientific and public audiences in discussions on the ethics of science
• By understanding what shapes scientists’ and publics’ awareness of, and the ability to act on, the ethical issues associated with discovery science
• By empowering scientists to evolve how they do science

A big thank you to these volunteers from around the world who shared their views with us:

[header image credit: Daniel Lonn, Unsplash]