NWO-theme Responsible Innovation officially launched

2 juli 2008

The kick-off meeting of the new NWO thematic programme Responsible Innovation, An Exploration of Ethical and Societal Issues (MVI) was held in the Nutshuis in The Hague on Thursday 5 June 2008.

The MVI programme was officially opened by Prof. dr. Peter Nijkamp, chairman of NWO, in the morning. He spoke of technological developments and the responsibility that NWO has taken on to play an active and steering role in this process. He emphasised the cooperation between NWO and the Dutch Ministries of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Agriculture, Education and Health.

Subsequently, the chairman of the MVI programme committee, Prof. dr. J.M. van den Hoven, gave a presentation. He discussed the unique nature of the MVI programme which he believes offers excellent opportunities for playing a proactive role in ethical and societal choices related to technological innovations. The concluding lecture was given by guest speaker Prof. Julian Savulescu, Director of the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford. His lecture on human enhancement addressed the ways in which innovations in the field of bio-ethics can be handled. This topic couldn’t have been more topical with the debate about embryo selection being held in the Dutch Parliament on that same day.

The afternoon was devoted to networking sessions for researchers from various disciplines ranging from social sciences to humanities and science. Some eighty researchers used this opportunity with the aim of sending in joint proposals. During these matchmaking sessions, background information was provided in a number of spoken columns by policymakers from various Dutch Ministries. In addition, the NWO presented a workshop to provide information on the application procedure and the opportunities of applying for subsidies.

The deadline for submitting pre-proposals is 2 September 2008.
The spoken columns and powerpoint presentations of the plenary sessions can be downloaded from the website www.nwo.nl/mvi

For more information please contact: drs. Marlies van de Meent (m.vandemeent@nwo.nl, +31 (0)70 3440809) or dr. Jasper Roodenburg (j.roodenburg@nwo.nl, +31 (0) 70 3440806)