Education, Culture and Science Minister Robert Dijkraff wants to do away with the image of a “ladder” that emphasizes hierarchy and speaks of “a variety of possibilities”. University fisheries researcher Gert Hoekstra is also a practitioner in secondary vocational education. Sees that the distance to the field of action can be significant. His personal mission is to connect the scientific world of Wageningen with the practices of the Urk fishing community. “The unknown makes it unpopular. Our fellow scientists would like to go out to sea to explore fish stocks, for example, but it’s hard to find fishermen who see the added value of that.
Still, Hoekstra hopes its moderation function will make it easier to align research with professional practice. For example, there is now a question about the survival chances of different types of small-sized fish after they are caught. The question is relevant for fishermen because all by-catch are deducted from their quota. At the same time, the topic is scientifically interesting because it provides starting points for sustainability.
The roles are intertwined
Stephen Foss also has a dual job: he combines a professorship at TU/e with a position as a lecturer at Fontys Hogescholen. He expects collaboration between the two forms of research to become more common. With social issues leading in college rather than a gap in theoretical knowledge, knowledge lands naturally in the professional field, he says.
It is precisely because of this cooperation that this classic division of tasks has become an outdated cliché. In our projects, the roles are increasingly intertwined, because both basic and practice-oriented researchers learn from each other. Voss also finds that collaboration between different research parties is hard work. He sees a role here for research funders. “They can continue on their chosen path of measuring the societal impact of research as well as scientific output.”
Research was a red flag
In research educator and former practitioner Laurence Alpay, healthcare technology, involving the professional field in research, is a pressing practical issue. We are dealing with an aging population, an increase in chronic diseases, and a shortage of staff. We need all the help of people and technology to deal with this, she says.
To this end, MBO and HBO graduates should know from the start what are the different qualities and roles in using new knowledge and technology. When I helped Alpay set up a practical training in 2018 and 2019, I noticed that this collaboration was not natural. For some teachers, the word “research” was a red flag: “We don’t do that at MBO.” The formation of the position took a long time. And this is not surprising, it also took a long time for professors to find their place in higher professional education.
Read the full article
The new issue of NWO Magazine research Comes out next week. There are several sketches in it Policy makers in and around dutch science share their views on te Anticipate developments in the coming years, including in an extensive interview with Minister Robert Dijkraff. Read the pre-publication of the article about bridge builders in higher education, higher vocational education and secondary vocational education now.
NWO Research Journal: “Scope Research: From Theory to Practice”
The “Science Works” debate will take place next Monday, July 3
Come to discuss “Works of Science” at ROC Mondriaan in The Hague. During the debate, Marcel Levy (Chair of the NWO), Sejokji Himovara (Chairman of the Executive Board of Wageningen University and Research), Adnan Tekin (Chair of the MBO Council) and Anilos van Sta (Lecturer in Transitions in Care at Kenniscentrum Zorginnovatie) will discuss the role of research in the future, such as the scope of the research and education. Minister Dajgraf (OCW) is also a guest. With him we look back to the past academic year and also look forward to the future.
More information on the Business of Science discussion
