Self-Assessment Rathenau Instituut Reflection on the Functioning of the Rathenau Instituut in the Period Spanning 2006-2011 April 2012 Board of the Rathenau Instituut Drs. S. Dekker (chairman) Prof. dr. E.H.L. Aarts Prof. dr. ir. W.E. Bijker Prof. dr. C.D. Dijkstra Drs. E.J.F.B. van Huis Prof. dr. H.W. Lintsen Prof. dr. H. Maassen van den Brink Prof. mr. J.E.J. Prins Prof. dr. A. Zuurmond Mr. drs. J. Staman (secretary) Self-Assessment Rathenau Instituut Rathenau Instituut Anna van Saksenlaan 51 P.O. Box 95366 2509 CJ The Hague The Netherlands Telephone: +31 70 342 15 42 Telefax: +31 70 363 34 88 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.rathenau.nl Publisher: Rathenau Instituut . Rathenau Instituut 5 Content Introduction ................................................................................................................. 6 1 Development of the Rathenau Instituut ......................................................... 7 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Strategic developments 2006-2011 ............................................................ 11 1.3 Trends and developments .......................................................................... 23 1.4 The Rathenau Instituut in the coming five years: ambitions and plans ...... 23 2 Activities and Results .................................................................................... 26 2.1 Stimulating public debate ............................................................................ 26 2.2 Supporting policy and the formation of political opinion.............................. 29 2.3 Scientific research in support of the main tasks ......................................... 32 2.4 Profile and corporate communication ......................................................... 35 Annex 1 Assessment 2006 ................................................................................... 37 Annex 2 Governmental Decree ............................................................................ 44 Annex 3 Activity programme and projects ............................................................ 51 Activity programmes 2006-2012............................................................................ 52 Case 1 Societal Impact of Research ............................................................... 54 Case 2 Bibliometrics and Field Studies .......................................................... 57 Case 3 The Glass Body .................................................................................. 58 Case 4 Human Tissue..................................................................................... 60 Case 5 Nanotechnology .................................................................................. 62 Case 6 Databases and the Electronic Health Record .................................... 64 Case 7 Knowledge Chamber Human Enhancement ...................................... 66 Case 8 30 Years of Research Funding ........................................................... 69 Case 9 Management of Research Groups ..................................................... 72 Annex 4 Organization ........................................................................................... 74 Internal organization .............................................................................................. 74 Scope .................................................................................................................... 74 Governance ........................................................................................................... 75 Annex 5 Employees .............................................................................................. 77 Annex 6 Members of the Board ............................................................................ 79 Annex 7 Programme Committee .......................................................................... 81 6 Self-Assessment Introduction This self-assessment was written as a contribution to the assessment of the Rathenau Instituut. In 2012, an external assessment committee will assess the Rathenau Instituut’s effectiveness and efficiency, by order of the Dutch state secretary of Education, Culture and Science. The self-assessment consists of three parts. In chapter 1, the strategic developments of the institute are reviewed, from the recommendations of the previous assessment committee, up to and including the new strategy. Chapter 2 gives an overview of the activities that the Rathenau Instituut undertook in the period spanning 2006-2011 within the framework of its mission, of the procedures that were followed, and of how these activities were valued by the Rathenau Instituut’s target groups. What was the impact of the activities and the products of the Rathenau Instituut? The explanation of these results attunes to the strategic developments in chapter 1. The report concludes with a series of annexes containing information on the previous evaluation, the Governmental Decree, the organization, the activity programmes in the period spanning 2006- 2011, the employees, the board, and the programme committee. An annex containing an image- study was added separately. This self-assessment includes a CD with the report of the previous assessment committee, the annual reports and annual financial reports, the publications that the Rathenau Instituut released in the past period, and the scientific publications by employees of the institute. Rathenau Instituut 7 1 Development of the Rathenau Instituut 1.1 Introduction Science and technology are important factors for the prosperity and wellbeing of people. We can already no longer conceive of a world without the very recently introduced technologies such as Internet, smartphones and MRI. Breakthroughs in medicine allow for previously untreatable diseases to be cured. New technologies make our cars cleaner and our energy more efficient. Exactly because science and technology are important driving forces for economic, societal and social progress, it is crucial that policymakers and wielders of confidential information have our knowledge system at their disposal. How does the system develop? How do other countries do it? And what measures can be taken to make the system even stronger? No less important is involving and keeping citizens informed. Changes happen quickly and sometimes deeply affect our personal lives. Only when people are timely informed and involved can they prepare themselves for and adjust to the changes, and only then can new technologies be soundly embedded. History In 1986 the then minister of Education and Science, Wim Deetman, founded the Netherlands Organization for Technology Assessment (NOTA). It had been established that decision-making in new science and technology could easily become a matter for experts and insiders only, where technological aspects prevail. Societal deliberations and dilemmas would then only be dealt with at a late stage. NOTA’s goal was to broaden decision-making power surrounding science and technology. By involving citizens and civilian organizations in decision-making and by signalling societal implications at an early stage, science and technology could take part in democratic debate. On June 2, 1994, NOTA was renamed Rathenau Instituut after Prof. Dr. G.W. Rathenau (1911- 1989), professor of Experimental Physics in Amsterdam, director of the Philips Physics Laboratory in Eindhoven and member of the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WWR). Rathenau had been chairman for the Rathenau Committee, established by the government in 1978, that researched the societal consequences of what was then called automation. Would the rise of microelectronics merely lead to higher unemployment in the Netherlands or would it provide new (economic) opportunities? One of the recommendations of the Rathenau Committee was to henceforth systematically study the societal implications of technology. In 2004 the institute got another task, initiated by the minister of Education, Culture and Science (OCW): Science System Assessment (SciSA). The purpose of Science System Assessment is to research and integrate knowledge on the way that the science system functions, in order to broaden 8 Self-Assessment science policy. The scope of the activities in this field greatly increases as of 2006, when an assessment underscores the importance of this task for Dutch science policy and for the institute. In the years that follow 2006, the institute keeps growing. Technology Assessment (TA) and Science System Assessment reinforce one another, communication strategies are accentuated in order for the institute to become more visible in the public domain, the institute spends more time in parliament, and the international collaboration expands. In 2011 a new mission is formulated integrating the two tasks, and emphasis lies on research and debate in science and technology. Present organization As of March 2012, the Rathenau Instituut counts 55 employees (48.69 FTE) and has a budget of €5.225 million. The Rathenau Instituut has four departments. The department of Technology Assessment focuses on research and debate on science and new technology. The department of Science System Assessment analyses the dynamics of science and science policy and publishes basic information on the state of the science system. Together with the project staff, the department of Corporate Communications provides the project communication and is responsible
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