Pandey, Poonam | India

Poonam Pandey is a Ph.D. student at the Centre for Studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. She completed her M.Phil from the same centre in 2011, her M.Phil Dissertation entitled “Public Participation, Regulation and Agribiotechnology in India” foregrounds the interaction of a top down, harmonising and globalizing initiative (Cartagena Protocol under Convention on Biological Diversity 2000) for public participation in regulatory decision making, with the local and regional level perceptions and practices of public participation. The empirical work for the study relied on interviews with various stakeholders [scientists from various disciplines of life sciences in public research institutes (in Delhi and Rajasthan), MNC executives, Government officials, Consumers and Cotton farmers in villages of Rajsamand district in Rajasthan].

She has a bachelor and masters degree in Biotechnology. She has been awarded fellowship by Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research and University Grants Commission (CSIR-UGC), India in 2010. Her research interest includes, politics of regulation, environmental and developmental discourses, public engagement and global governance of emerging technologies, evolutionary economics, public understanding of science. Her research at IAS-STS Graz is supported by Ernst Mach Worldwide grant.

Project at IAS-STS: Convergence of Nanotechnology and Biotechnology: Issues, opportunities and challenges

My present work at the IAS-STS Graz, is part of my Ph.D project, which will focus on the issues, opportunities and challenges arising as a result of convergence of nanotechnology and biotechnology (nanobiotechnology) in two important sectors which are agro-food and health. Encountered with the challenges of funding, legal and ethical issues, as sensitised by the biotechnology era, technologies in the emerging fields such as nanobiotechnology, are exploring opportunities in a socio technical matrix, where they are not just technological artefacts but the drivers of socio-cultural change. More specifically, this project tries to focus on two aspects. Firstly, it tries to understand the concept of ‘convergence’, its indicators and global upsurge for R&D and innovation in nanobiotechnology, followed by country specific initiatives and investments for catching up. Secondly, it tries to address the regulatory discrepancies (environmental, ethical and legal) which arise as a result of the interaction of these technologies with the society leading to a ‘regulatory convergence’. Thus, analysing the concept of ‘boundary work’, which is crucial in regulatory governance of emerging technologies, where science and politics function in the same quadrant.

Selected Publications

Pandey P. (2012), " The 'Framing' of Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India: Some Critical Reflections", paper presented at the International conference on Public Policy and Governance held on 4-6 September 2012 at Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, India (with Pranav Desai).

Pandey, P. (2012), "Agribiotechnology and the Politics of Participation", paper presented in the STEPS summer school held on 14-25 May 2012 at STEPS Centre, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.