{"id":1485,"date":"2016-11-30T14:27:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T13:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=62742"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:06","slug":"social-sciences-gets-its-own-incubator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/11\/30\/social-sciences-gets-its-own-incubator\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Sciences gets its own incubator"},"content":{"rendered":"
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De incubator is te vinden op de elfde verdieping van het Mandevillegebouw, bij Erasmus Business & Research Support (ERBS) om precies te zijn.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

The Faculty of Social Sciences (FSW) has gained its first incubator: GovernEUR<\/em>. The Faculty considers it \u2018an important step forward on the road to valorisation\u2019. Professor Arwin van Buuren explains what an incubator is, and what it\u2019s used for.<\/p>\n

The term incubator was originally used for hatching machines. Similarly, GovernEUR<\/em><\/a>\u00a0will serve as a hotbed for the development of methods and tools for the public sector and public administration by EUR business administration experts.<\/p>\n

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Arwin van Buuren.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Public administration experts have always performed a lot of contract research in connection with consultancy, evaluations and research into specific issues, among other things. However, these types of projects have often been on an ad hoc basis. Furthermore, researchers were forced to schedule this work side by side with research programmes that were already underway. High time, according to the team at FSW, to create more consistency in these efforts \u2013 in a way that yields long-term benefits for researchers and private-sector clients.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe incubator stems from the growing importance of valorisation \u2013 i.e. the social impact of academic research,\u201d says Van Buuren. \u201cIt all comes down to the question \u2018How can research in the field of public administration contribute to public governance?\u2019 But it works both ways, actually: if researchers come up with a good idea, GovernEUR\u00a0<\/em>can help them turn it into a consultancy service or product, and find potential clients.\u201d Valorisation\u2019s increasing importance is also reflected in the Executive Board\u2019s decision to establish the Erasmus Centre for Valorisation<\/a>\u00a0(ECV).<\/p>\n

Win-win situation<\/h3>

Everyone involved will need to work hard to make the incubator a success, because there\u2019s no budget for this programme. \u201cIt will need to pay its own way,\u201d says Van Buuren. \u201cBut our researchers are investing time and energy into the development of relevant products and services.\u201d According to Van Buuren, the current research programme already includes a number of paths that allow for the development of new, marketable products.<\/p>\n

One example is determining how effective a brand is \u2013 \u2018I Amsterdam\u2019<\/a>, for example. \u201cWe know which conditions need to be in place for a brand like that to work \u2013 which actually means we\u2019re sitting on a gold mine. If we were to translate this academic knowledge into a number of tools and methods, we could offer them to Amsterdam\u2019s municipal administration and other potential clients. At the same time, this field-testing of our theories can yield new publications, which can be used to hone our insights and contribute to scientific knowledge. It\u2019s a win-win situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Careful thought<\/h3>

The incubator is a collaboration between FSW and Erasmus Business & Research Support<\/a>\u00a0(ERBS), which is helping a number of faculties to make the transition towards valorisation. \u201cYou could say \u2018from learning to earning\u2019, but I wouldn\u2019t like to put it as banal as that, because it\u2019s definitely also about social impact,\u201d remarks Van Buuren<\/p>\n

After all, the intention is for contract research at FSW to be more than just a \u2018side job\u2019 \u2013 by appointing experienced professionals who can serve as a link between the public sector and the University. In addition, no private-sector companies will be setting at the incubator.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the time being, all products will remain under GovernEUR<\/em>\u2019s banner. But if certain products or services prove a success, they can of course be \u2018privatised\u2019 or \u2018hived off\u2019. In other words, we will continue to do contract research, but the incubator will lead to new interactions with academics, which will help them to increase the impact of their research. This may take some getting used to for many of us, but it will also force us to give more careful thought to what we are doing, rather than drifting aimlessly from project to project,\u201d concludes Van Buuren.<\/p>\n\n\t

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