Nanotechnology Inclusion in Pharmaceutical Sciences Education in Portugal.

Objective. To analyze the inclusion of nanotechnology in the curricula of Integrated Master's in Pharmaceutical Sciences programs in Portugal. Methods. Information regarding curricula (general notice and curricular unit description, objectives and syllabus) from national institutions was collected from their official websites or requested by e-mail, and analyzed for the occurrence of nanotechnology and related terms. A nanotechnology inclusion in curriculum (NIC) index was developed and used to rank each institution. Results. All institutions with available data (eight out of nine) offered nanotechnology in their curricula. Both basic and applied nanotechnology-related education were offered to students but mostly from a theoretical perspective. The NIC index provided a standardized tool for comparing the institutions' programs and highlighted differences according to the relative importance of the presence of nanotechnology and related terms in curricula. Conclusion. Portuguese institutions offering integrated master's programs in pharmaceutical sciences are including nanotechnology in their curricula. However, its implementation across all institutions remains weak and requires further strengthening to meet the requirements of this emerging field in health care practice.

Enhancing research for undergraduates through a nanotechnology training program that utilizes analytical and bioanalytical tools.

Nanotechnology is a broad field combining traditional scientific disciplines; however, analytical chemistry plays an important role in material design, synthesis, characterization, and application. This article emphasizes the uniqueness of nanotechnology and the importance of providing high-quality undergraduate research experiences to both attract and retain talented individuals to the field of nanotechnology. In response to this need to develop a strong and sustainable nanotechnology work force, strategies to create authentic research experiences are considered within the framework of an interdisciplinary nanotechnology environment at West Virginia University. The program, named NanoSAFE Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), embeds students in different departments at West Virginia University and in research laboratories within the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. A large number of participants have little or no prior research experience and a strong effort is made to recruit applicants from under-represented populations. Components designed to foster research proficiency include frequent reporting, a strong peer-network, and training for secondary mentors. Evidence, which includes student publications and assessment findings demonstrating self-efficacy, is discussed to substantiate the viability of the strategies used in the 2016-2018 program. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

Why should nanoscience students be taught to be ethically competent?

During the education of scientists at the university level the students become more and more specialized. The specialization of the students is a consequence of the scientific research becoming specialized as well. In the interdisciplinary field of nanoscience the importance of specialization is also emphasized throughout the education. Being an interdisciplinary field of study the specialization in this area is not focused on scientific disciplines, but on the different branches of the research. Historically ethics has not been a priority in science education, however, in recent years the importance of such teachings has been highly recognize especially in medicine, biotechnology and engineering. The rapid development, the many new and unknown areas and the highly specialized focus of nanotechnology suggest the importance of having ethically competent researchers. In this article the importance of ethical competence in nanoscience research is argued for by an example of a dilemma that could occur in a research project. The dilemma is analyzed using two different ethical views, generating two different choices for action. It is seen that the dilemma can have more than one solution and that ethical competence can help in justifying the choice of solution in a specific situation. Furthermore it is suggested that a way to reach this competence is through education in ethics incorporated into the nanoscience education curriculum.

Socio-ethical education in nanotechnology engineering programmes: a case study in Malaysia.

The unique properties of nanotechnology have made nanotechnology education and its related subjects increasingly important not only for students but for mankind at large. This particular technology brings educators to work together to prepare and produce competent engineers and scientists for this field. One of the key challenges in nanotechnology engineering is to produce graduate students who are not only competent in technical knowledge but possess the necessary attitude and awareness toward the social and ethical issues related to nanotechnology. In this paper, a research model has been developed to assess Malaysian nanotechnology engineering students' attitudes and whether their perspectives have attained the necessary objectives of ethical education throughout their programme of study. The findings from this investigation show that socio ethical education has a strong influence on the students' knowledge, skills and attitudes pertaining to socio ethical issues related to nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology and dermatology education in the United States: data from a pilot survey.

BACKGROUND: Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing discipline with important implications for consumers, patients, physicians and investigators. In an era when nanotechnology is being both incorporated into educational requirements for medical fields such as radiology and oncology and vigorously pursued and developed by cosmeceutical companies, dermatology is falling behind. A survey was conducted to ascertain knowledge, attitudes and perception of nanotechnology in dermatology teaching programs. METHODS: To ascertain baseline knowledge, attitudes and preceptions regarding nanotechnology among dermatology trainees, dermatology investigators and dermatology faculty in US academic medical centers, an online survey was sent out to random members of the dermatology community and data analyzed (100 participants, 23% response rate). Participants responded to a questionnaire on a five-point scale ranging from strongly disagree, disagree, uncertain, agree, to strongly agree. Due to the low response rate, strongly disagree/disagree and strongly agree/agree values were combined and compared to uncertain responses. RESULTS: Approximately equal numbers of faculty vs. chief residents responded to the survery (52% vs. 47.75%, respectively). The majority of respondents had not previously attended any educational activity on nanotechnology (69.57%). The majority of participants agreed that more education on nanotechnology for dermatologists is needed (78.26% agreed vs. 21.74% uncertain) and that it should be incorporated into the residency training curriculum (60.87% agree vs. 13.04% disagree). Participants mostly agreed that nanotechnology research can contribute to better fundamental understanding of skin disease (78.26%), to advances in the diagnosis of skin disease (73.91%) and to therapies (78.26%). Participants mostly agreed that more research is needed (82.60%) and that this research should be funded (78.26%). Not surprisingly, respondents were uncertain with respect to issues of nanotechnology safety both in the pharmaceutical realm (60.87%) and cosmeceutical realm (69.57%). Furthermore, the overwhelming majority responded that research is also needed to evaluate nanomaterial safety (86.96%). LIMITATIONS: Both the populations size and response rate were low, possibly affecting the power and significance of the results in this study. CONCLUSION: The survey results indicate a significant gap in dermatology training. Participants indicated a need for more training and education in the area of nanotechnology, and called for more research to evaluate the potential pitfalls associated with nanomaterials as well and to seek new advances in diagnostic and therapeutic modalities.