Keynotes

Each main theme will be addressed by our excellent keynote speakers. On this page, we introduce to you all keynote speakers of this year’s conference and their field of expertise.

Theme 1: Addressing the role of research and innovation in times of crises

Professor John-Arne Røttingen MD PhD MSc MPA

Professor John-Arne Røttingen is Ambassador for Global Health at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway. He is Adjunct Scientific Director at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Visiting Fellow of Practice at Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University, and he was the founding interim Chief Executive Officer of CEPI – Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. He has been the Chief Executive of the Research Council of Norway; Executive Director of Infection Control and Environmental Health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health; Professor of Health Policy at the Department of Health Management and Health Economics, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo; and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He has been the founding Chief Executive of the Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services; Oxford Scholar at Wadham College; Fullbright Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School; Chair of the Board of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research; and Chair of the Consultative Expert Workin Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination (CEWG), WHO. He recieved his MD and PhD from the University of Oslo, an MSc from Oxford University and an MPA from Harvard University.

Theme 2: Impact, excellence and beyond: Reframing the science-society relationship

Dr. Gemma Derrick (Lancaster University)

Gemma Derrick is a Senior Lecturer (Higher Education) and Director of Research at the Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University. Her research focuses on the dynamics of research culture and productivity with a particular interest in peer review as a research governance tool and the behaviours and interactions involved in the assessment of research excellence and societal impact. She leads the PEAR (Peer and Expert Review) Laboratory and works with governments and funding agencies globally on how to utilise effective forms of peer review for the assessment of research and, in particular within formalised research audit frameworks. Her current research focuses on incidences of failure and the lost economy of ideas in coordination with the Wellcome Trust and Proposal Analytics. She is also Editor-in-Chief of the journal Publications.

Theme 3: Technology push or societal change – the widening scope of STI policies in sustainability transitions

Professor Paula Kivimaa (SYKE and SPRU)

Paula Kivimaa is Research Professor in Climate and Society in the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Associate at Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex, and a member of the Finnish Climate Panel. Her research focuses on sustainability transitions to zero-carbon energy and mobility systems, in particular from the perspective of how public policy (climate, energy, transport, innovation) contributes to such transitions.

Dr. Iris Wanzenböck (Utrecht University)

Iris Wanzenböck is Assistant Professor at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University. Her current research focuses on new forms of research and innovation policy, particularly the governance of mission-oriented and regional innovation policies to address societal challenges. With her interdisciplinary background, she combines insights from economic geography, political science and innovation studies in her research.

Professor Susana Borrás (Copenhagen Business School)

Susana Borrás is Professor at the Department of Organization at Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Denmark. She conducts research on the interaction between governance and innovation. Her research interests are on the following related topics: the design of innovation policy and its instruments, the governance of change and scale-up processes in socio-technical systems, the organizational strategies of legitimation in science and technology regulatory areas, and the organizational capacity and processes related to social learning and policy learning.