University of Tasmania students dive into our undergraduate course

This month, a new course co-designed by our Responsible Innovation Future Science Platform (RI FSP) and the University of Tasmania (UTAS) is hitting classrooms. A first-of-its-kind collaboration, students taking Responsible and Sustainable Innovation are unlocking case studies featuring some of our most exciting and frontier-pushing research.  

In bringing Responsible Innovation (or RI) to campus, we’re empowering the next generation of scientists to think through how new technologies land in society. Ours is a unique and sophisticated approach: over the past five years, we’ve developed RI as a rigorous, robust, and repeatable scientific process. 

More than a set of cookie-cutter guidelines, RI can be applied across scientific disciplines. It offers insights on emerging digital technologies like AI and quantum, to novel genetic technologies in fields like healthcare and manufacturing, and environmental-scale solutions for our changing climate.   

“Scientific innovation can have far-reaching effects on society and the environment and scientists and engineers often work on technologies that have significant societal impacts,” Responsible Innovation Research Director Dr Justine Lacey said. 

“Training a generation of scientists and engineers who are not only technically proficient but also socially and ethically aware, ultimately contributes to a better and more equitable world,” she said.  

“We like to call it next generation responsible innovation.” 

Where science meets society 

The UTAS course examines the interface between science, technology, and innovation. Students delve into the social, ethical and legal consequences of new and disruptive science and technologies. It invites them to think critically through a range of case studies, based on leading-edge research and development underway here at CSIRO right now.  

From our Immune Resilience FSP, they’re considering the ethics around animal studies to develop vaccines. From Agriculture and Food, they’re looking at the social appetite for future proteins. From our CarbonLock FSP, they’re learning about the risks and benefits of locking away carbon dioxide in the ocean. And from Health and Biosecurity, they’re discovering how people from farmers to Traditional Owners are vital to strengthening Australia’s biosecurity system.  

You can see some excerpts from the case study in the video below.  

The course germinated from a meeting between our Responsible Innovation researchers and Professor Alistair Gracie at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA), based at the University of Tasmania. “We originally approached Professor Gracie to review a short postgraduate course on Responsible Innovation and agricultural technology that we had developed,” Justine said.   

“Professor Gracie was recommended both because he is an internationally recognised researcher in agri-tech innovation, but also brings innovative techniques to his own teaching and learning,” she said.  

“He saw a real opportunity for CSIRO and UTAS to collaborate and co-design a full semester undergraduate offering that brings responsible innovation to first year science and engineering students… and the rest, as they say, is history.” 

Working hand-in-glove with researchers from across the organisation, what followed was months of careful planning. Together we framed up key concepts, questions and issues. Shooting took place over the course of several months in 2023.  

The big reveal

Through rounds of consultation, feedback and improvement, the final results spoke for themselves. Four thought-provoking case studies, coupled with a series of stimulating guest lectures from our scientists and leaders, make for a challenging but illuminating undergraduate elective.  

The first tutorial, held on Wednesday 24 July, 2024, welcomed a class of over 20 online and in-person participants. Encouraging them to develop their own stance on what it means to practice innovation responsibly, the first guest lecture by Behavioural Scientist Sinead Golley sparked a lively conversation on the social and ethical risks of novel food technologies.  

Although Justine couldn’t be in Hobart for the launch, the significance of the milestone was not lost on her.  

“There’s a special moment when you see the shared vision, collaboration, and hard work come together into something tangible and impactful,” Justine said.  

“It happens when you watch students engage with responsible innovation and truly make it their own,” she said.  

“This is incredibly exciting and fills me with hope for how our next generation of scientists and engineers will shape our future.”