Athena Institute

Science and technology contribute to progress

Science and technology have contributed to substantial economic progress in many countries and have brought increased welfare in terms of health and living standards to millions of people. Science and technology have pervaded our personal and everyday life, and have changed the way we feel, think, communicate and act. Prominent developing fields in science and technology are the health and life sciences; rapid changes in these fields alter our lives in ways we cannot foresee. To mention just one example, the increasing amount of technological breakthroughs in the field of genomics has made it possible to study the genetic basis of living organisms with far greater accuracy, while developments in proteomics and functional genomics give insight into the translation and functionality of genes. This provides unprecedented opportunities to further understand disease mechanisms, develop innovative therapies (e.g. personalised medicine), as well as new plant breeding options, to name but a few. In addition to these more disciplinary based innovations, distinctions between scientific disciplines are fading and large-scale research programs are increasingly interdisciplinary in nature resulting in new scientific fields. Ecogenomics, a merging of ecology and genomics, is an example of such a new interdisciplinary field with fascinating prospects for innovative applications.

 

The challenge is to realize the potential whilst addressing the concerns
The combination of progress in science and technology, the emergence of new broad interdisciplinary fields and the technology-driven nature of the innovation process creates new problems in society, amongst others with equity, environmental and health issues. The continuous challenge is therefore to realize the optimal potential of emerging science and technology fields, by integrating strategies addressing the anticipated possibly negative aspects, during the innovation process. 

Research Focus
The question we posed in our department more than 25 years ago is: how can science and technology development contribute to the improvement of health and well-being in a sustainable and equitable way?

Athena Institute consists of two departments:

• Innovation in the Health and Life sciences is headed by Prof.dr. Joske Bunders. Its work involves the analysis decision-making processes on innovations in order to develop effective strategies for the management of innovation processes in line with societal priorities.
• The Communication in the Health and Life sciences  (WTC) is headed by Prof.dr. Jacqueline Broerse. It focuses on knowledge development for effective communication between science and society.

 

Mission
The mission of Athena is to scientifically study and design interfaces between science and society to contribute to:

• worldwide research efforts on a robust academic and societal understanding of key factors in innovation processes;
• enriching science with increased societal legitimacy and improved research utilization;
• an improved societal awareness of how innovations may benefit the sustainability, equity and fairness of societies.

To this end Athena conducts scientific research and provides teaching in bachelors and masters programs in its own faculty and in other faculties. In addition it advices (inter-)national authorities.