Last Monday, the series of discussions on the draft UT plans started with a rather fierce episode by Twente standards. Staff of the faculties of Behavioral Sciences and Business and Technology are resisting a subordinate position for the social sciences.
Cooperation between the technological and social UT disciplines is an excellent idea, said Jan van Dijk, professor of communications, at the start of the meeting. But that cooperation has to be founded on equality and independ-ence. Making the social sciences subordinate to technology does not work. `We disagree fundamentally with the Board.' Applause from the audience.
About fifty employees and students of the faculties of Behavioral Sciences and Business, Public Administra-tion and Technology showed up at the meeting, organized by the university council in the Waaier building. The draft text of the UT plans for the next five years raised questions with the assembled audience. They are worried about the UT's profile as `technological research university' and the announced `reorientation' of the social sciences.
Still, Huib de Jong, member of the Executive Board, was `a little surprised' by the audience's reaction and questions. `Because where in the text does it say that social and behavioral sciences should be subordinate to technology?' However, several audience members feel the tone of the text is clear. De Jong counters that the document speaks of working towards a `greater mutual cohesion' between the UT disciplines, building a mutual profile from two disciplines and joining forces in order to increase our capacity to bring in external funds.
That is what the UT needs, according to De Jong, because the UT's financial position does not give us the luxury of distributing the available resources evenly across all research groups. We will have to make choices; we will have to allocate money to groups with the highest commercial potential. The better the focus and cooperation, the higher the commercial potential, or so the Board reasons.
There is no consensus on that either. If social scientists want to bring in funding for research in the area of technology and innovation, they are forced to operate in a very small part of their field, avers Ad Pruyn, professor of behavioral sciences.
De Jong suggests people should use their expertise to find interesting interdisciplinary combinations with technological research groups. That should make more funding available from science and technology funds than from social and behavioral funds.
De Jong: `It may be difficult to cooperate, but it is not threatening. On the contrary, it opens up new opportunities. I am startled by your resistance. You seem to read something in the text we did not intend,' he concluded at the end of the meeting. `Then perhaps you should choose your words better', Ad Pruyn retorted, summarizing the opinion of the audience.
They will have to do that quickly, because the final text of the plans need to be submitted to the University Council by December 7. The council will discuss the plans in two sessions.
Trans. Jeroen Latour
