A cabinet of curiosities for science policy
(WorldNews Netherlands)

How does the government know whether science policy has the desired effect? According to Professor Barend van der Meulen, a variety of evidence about the effectiveness of science policy and proper gathering of this evidence are more important than a strict scientific method. Inaugural lecture 27 March. Science policy is still a relatively young field. It was not until the 1960s that the Dutch government started to question how government funding was being used in the domain of science and that attention started to be paid to science policy. This was the impetus for the search for good means of measuring and justifying that policy. `What we`re actually looking for is evidence for science...