Science and SocietyEthics, Science, and the Public

Transformative scientific advances fuel societal progress; they also come with great responsibility.

Major scientific breakthroughs deepen our understanding of the universe, 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. Who bears responsibility for broad ethical considerations for scientific discoveries? When is it optimal to evaluate implications and risks? How can publics be empowered to take part in the dialogue?

Motivated by our founder’s vision to advance science for the benefit of humanity, we work with partners to engage the public in the ethical and societal implications that accompany breakthrough discoveries.

Kavli Centers for Ethics, Science, and the Public

The Kavli Centers for Ethics, Science, and the Public focus on addressing an as-yet unmet need within all of science: a proactive and sustained effort to connect scientists, ethicists, social scientists, science communicators, and the public to discuss potential impacts of scientific discoveries.

UC Berkeley

Reimagining how scientists are trained in the fields of neuroscience, genetics, and artificial intelligence.

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University of Cambridge

Uncovering public concerns and approaches to engage with the public about advances in AI, big data, and genetics.

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Civic Science Fellow

As part of the Civic Science Fellows program, The Kavli Foundation is supporting Lomax Boyd, a fellow at the Berman Institute in partnership with the Kavli Neurodiscovery Institute at Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on designing new methods for engaging the public on new and emerging scientific discoveries, such as neural organoids.

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