The Gago Conferences on European Science Policy

The Gago Conferences

"Science is a battle ground, it's not neutral.
And if you know it's not neutral, it becomes interesting.
It can become part of the modern youth culture.
You must choose between generosity and greed,
between peace and war,
and choose between disclosing or hiding the truth"...

José Mariano Gago (2001)

The primary objective of these conferences is to bring together leading representatives from academic, business, social, culture and government sectors worldwide to present and discuss current and future issues of critical importance for European science and technology, including their impact to foster social and economic development and shared prosperity both at home and abroad. Multidisciplinary perspectives are encouraged to provide state-of-the-art and useful knowledge to decision makers in the private, public and social sectors - including informed and effective education, culture, business, government policies and strategies for Europe.

The 2nd Edition

Science, society and policy towards a Europe of knowledge:
On the role of science engagement in Horizon Europe

The Gago Conferences on European Science Policy provide an international forum to strengthen the debate on emerging issues of research and innovation policy in Europe, as well as to promote the necessary involvement of major stakeholders in policy making and the diffusion of knowledge in science education and culture. The Conferences seek also to strengthen international scientific and technological cooperation networking in Europe towards a positive impact on a global scale.

The 2nd Gago Conference on European Science Policy will assemble policymakers, parliamentarians, academia and other opinion leaders, to discuss science engagement for a Europe of knowledge. In particular, the role of science centres, museums and other institutions who promote the dialogue of citizens with scientists and innovators in the forthcoming Horizon Europe will be highlighted. The meeting will be limited to a short number of participants for a lively debate.

European citizens are, in general, supportive of science and its developments. However, the exponential growth of digitalisation, robotics, artificial intelligence and big data are deeply changing the job market and there are signs of a growing unease in some sectors of society. It is common understanding that such unrest can only be tackled through informed citizenship, stronger engagement with science and innovation, and ultimately increased participation of citizens in the setting and implementation of the R&I agenda.

Engaging citizens with science and innovation requires perceiving science as both practice and culture. Building scientific and technological culture demands the involvement of a wide scope of sectors, from European institutions to national governments, from companies to non-governmental organisations, from universities and research centres to organizations connecting people to science. Many advocates of public engagement, in particular those working in museums and science centres, feel that the new Horizon Europe does not go as far as it could in this regard.

As José Mariano Gago was one of the most effective supporters of museums and science centres, as key actors in the engagement of citizens with science, the 2nd Gago Conference will be dedicated to discuss their role in the forthcoming Horizon Europe.

Organizing Committee:

Manuel Heitor, Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Portugal
Rosalia Vargas, Ciência Viva Agency, Portugal
Catherine Franche, Executive Director of Ecsite. The European Network of Science Centres and Museums
Barbara Streicher, Executive Manager of the Association Austrian ScienceCenter-Network, Austria

International Secretariat:

Ciência Viva Agency, Lisbon, Portugal

PROGRAMME

September 21^st, 2018

Location: Austrian Federal Economic Chamber

Wiedner Hauptstrasse 63, 1045 Vienna

08:30 - Registration

09:00 - Welcome and Opening addresses

Jakob Calice, Secretary-General, representing the Federal Minister of Education, Science and Research, Austria
Rosalia Vargas, President, Ciência Viva Agency, Portugal
Jozséf Bódis, Minister of State for Education, Hungary
Manuel Heitor, Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Portugal

09:20 -Brief introductory address:

Helga Nowotny, Chair, ERA Council Austria and Former President, European Research Council

09:30 - Roundtable discussion 1
Science engagement for a sustainable world: lessons learned from large research organizations

Moderators:

Peter Tindemans, Secretary-General, Euroscience
Alexandre Quintanilha, Chair, Parliamentary Committee on Science and Education, Portugal

Brief introductory interventions (5 min each):

Franco Ongaro, Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, European Space Agency (ESA)
James Gillies, Strategic Planning and Evaluation, CERN, Switzerland
Ulises Cortés, High Performance Artificial Intelligence Group Manager, Barcelona Super Computing Center, Spain
Simonetta di Pippo, Director, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs(UNOOSA)
André Martinuzzi, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Institute for Managing Sustainability, Austria
Vasilis Koulaidis, Professor, University of Peloponnese, Greece
Ricardo Serrão Santos, Member of the European Parliament

Debate (40 min)

11:00 - Coffee break

11:30 - Roundtable discussion 2
Active citizenship for a healthier society: lessons learned associated with the need for a cancer mission for Europe

Moderators:

Julio Celis, Associated Scientific Director, Danish Cancer Society, Denmark

Brief introductory interventions (5 min each):

Ulrik Ringborg, Director, Cancer Centre Karolinska, Sweden
Peter Nagy, Head of Department, National Institute of Oncology, Hungary
Francesco de Lourenzo, ECPC - European Cancer Patient Coalition
Helge Torgensen, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria
Ana Delicado, Researcher, Institute of Social Sciences, Portugal
Karin Sipido, Head of Experimental Cardiology, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences KU Leuven; Scientific Panel for Health H2020, Belgium
Wilfried Ellmeier, Professor of Immunobiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria; President Elect of the BioMed Alliance

Debate (40 min)

13:00 - Lunch break

13:45 - Roundtable discussion 3
Citizen's participation in science and innovation: key for a sustainable and democratic Europe.

Moderators:

Barbara Streicher, Executive Manager, Austrian Science Centre Network, Austria
Catherine Franche, Executive Director, Ecsite, Belgium

Brief introductory interventions (5 min each):

Wilfried Sihn, Managing Director, Fraunhofer Austria Research, Austria
Sieglinde Sumper, Director, Mitmach Museum, Austria
Anna Omedes, Director of Natural Sciences Museum, Barcelona, Spain
George Gaskell, Professor, London School of Economics, United Kingdom
Simon K. Posch, Director, Haus der Musik, Austria
Elvira Fortunato, European Commission's Group of Chief Scientific Advisors

Debate (40 min)

15:30 - Presentation of GAGO AWARDS in European Science Policy

Moderators:

Rosalia Vargas, President of Ciência Viva, Portugal

Brief final remarks:

Jakob Calice, Secretary-General, representing the Federal Minister of Education, Science and Research, Austria
Jonas Bjorck, Director-General, Representing the Minister of Education and Science, Sweden
Teresa Riesgo Alcaide, General Director of Research, Development and Innovation, Spain
Manuel Heitor, Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Portugal

16:00 - Closing

PREPARE FOR THE DEBATE

Manifesto for public engagement LAB-FAB-APP: Investing in the European future we want ("Lamy Report") Mission-Oriented Research and Innovation in the European Union - Mariana Mazzucatto Key Findings from the HORIZON 2020 interim evaluation EU funding for Research and Innovation 2021-2027 ANNEXES to the Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL, Brussels, 7.6.2018 COM(2018) 436 final Ecsite's Position Paper

PARTICIPANTS

Agnieszka Kosciuszko	Deputy Director of the Scientific Centre of the Polish Academy in Austria
Alexandre Quintanilha	Chair of the Portuguese Parliamentary Committee on Education and Science, Portugal
Ana Delicado	Researcher, Institute of Social Sciences, Portugal
André Martinuzzi	Vienna University of Economics and Business, Institute for Managing Sustainability
Anna Ecker	European Parliament (Paul Ruebig MEP Assistant)
Anna Krivjanska	Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information
Anna Omedes	Director of Natural Sciences Museum, Barcelona, Spain
Anton Zeilinger	President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Austria
Barbara Streicher	Executive Manager, Austrian Science Centre Network, Austria
Carlos Catalão	Board member, Ciência Viva, Portugal
Catherine Franche	Executive Director of Ecsite
Chris Rapley	University College London, United Kingdom
Daniel Dörler	Citizen Science Network, Austria
Dina Lee Seguna	Communications Coordination for Junior Minister for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation within the Office of the Prime Minister, Malta
Dmitrijs Stepanovs	Deputy Director for Science Policy, Acting Deputy State Secretary and Director of the Higher Education, Science and Innovation Department at Ministry of Education and Science, Latvia
Elvira Fortunato	Member of the European Commission Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM), Portugal
Francesco de Lorenzo	President, European Cancer Patient Coalition - ECPC
Franco Ongaro	Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality e Head da ESTEC (European Research and Technology Centre - ESA), Noordwijk, Netherlands
George Gaskell	Professor, London School of Economics, United Kingdom
Gonçalo Praça	Ciência Viva, Portugal
Helga Nowotny	Chair, ERA Council Austria and Former President, European Research Council
Helge Torgensen	Austria Academy of Sciences, Austria
Iveta Hermanovska	Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information, Slovakia
Jakob Calice	Secretary- General, Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, Austria
James Gillies	Strategic Planning and Evaluation, CERN
Jan Alfred Anderson	Head of Science Center Dep., The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology, Norway
Jonas Bjorck	Director- General, Ministry for Education and Research, Sweden
Jorg Ehtreiber	Director, Children? Museum Graz, Austria
José Vitor Malheiros	Ciência Viva, Portugal
Josef Frohlich	Board member, Austrian Science Centres Network, Austria
Jószef Bódis	Minister of Education, Hungary
Julio Celis	Associated Scientific Director, Danish Cancer Society, Denmark
Karin Sipido	Head of Experimental Cardiology, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences KU Leuven ; Scientific Panel for Health H2020, Belgium
Lana Franceska Dreimane	Senior Expert for Science Policy at the Higher Education, Science and Innovation Department at Ministry of Education and Science , Latvia
Manuel Heitor	Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Portugal
Marie Couëdic	Special Projects Assistant, Ecsite Office, Brussels
Marion Poetz	Scientific Director, Ludwig Boltzmann Association - Open Innovation in Science Center / Copenhagen Business School
Marika Cieslinski	Center for Citizen Science, Austria
Patrik Helmich	Division of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Research and Sport, Slovakia
Paula Galvão	Chief-officer of Business and Strategic Relations Office, International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory
Paulo Trincão	Director, Exploratório Coimbra, Centro Ciência Viva, Portugal
Peter Nagy	Head of Department, National Institute of Oncology, Hungary
Peter Tindemans	General Secretary, Euroscience
Ricardo Serrão Santos	Member of the European Parliament, Portugal
Roberta Albanese Dalli	Private Secretary for Junior Minister for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation within the Office of the Prime Ministe, Malta
Rosalia Vargas	President, Ciência Viva, Portugal
Sieglinde Sumper	Director, Mitmach Museum, Austria
Simon K. Posch	Director, Haus Der Musik BetriebsgesmbH, Austria
Simonetta di Pippo	Director, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
Teresa Riesgo Alcaide	General Director of Research, Development and Innovation, Spain
Teresa Riera	University of the Balaric Islands. Member of the RISE (Research, Innovation, Experts on Scientific Policies) HL-Group, EC. Former MEP, rapporteur for Horizon 2020
Thomas Koenig	Institute for Advanced Studies Vienna, Austria
Ulises Cortés	High Performance Artificial Intelligence Group Manager, Barcelona Super Computing Center, Spain
Ulrik Ringborg	Director , Cancer Center Karolinska, Sweden
Vasilis Koulaidis	Department of Social and Educational Policy, University of Peloponnese, Greece
Wilfried Ellmeier	Professor of Immunobiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria; President Elect of the BioMed Alliance
Wilfried Sihn	Managing Director Fraunhofer-Austria Research, Austria

GAGO AWARDS in European Science Policy

Alexandre Quintanilha

Alexandre Quintanilha has a PhD in Theoretical Physics from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and worked for nearly two decades at the University of California at Berkeley where he was Professor of Cell Physiology and Biophysics, Assistant Director of the Energy and Environment Division and director of the Center for Atmospheric and Biospheric Effects of Technology at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In Portugal, he was Professor of Biophysics at the Biomedical Sciences Institute of Abel Salazar, University of Porto. He was the founding director of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMC), president of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (INEB), and chaired the implementation committee of i3S, the research center of the University of Porto that resulted from a consortium of three major biomedical research units in Portugal: IBMC, INEB and Ipatimup.
Along a distinguished career in research and higher education in the United States and Portugal, Alexandre Quintanilha published more than 130 scientific articles, and six books. As a researcher, his current interests focus on the areas of biological stress, but he maintains an active role in the discussion and implementation of science policies, in particular as it relates to risk perception, responsible research and innovation, and scientific dissemination.
He is a member of the European Academy, the World Academy of Arts and Science, and the Council for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society. Alexandre Quintanilha chaired various committees at the European Science Foundation, the European Commission, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and other Portuguese and international research agencies. He was also a member of the Science and Technology Advisory Council of the President of the European Commission and continues to chair the Ethics Committee for Clinical Research.
Alexandre Quintanilha became a member of the Portuguese Parliament, where he chairs the Parliamentary Commission on Education and Science since 2015.

George Gaskell

George Gaskell, BSc PhD studied experimental psychology, physiology and social psychology at University College London. He joined the faculty of the London School of Economics in 1971 as a member of the Department of Social Psychology. After twenty years he co-founded and directed the Methodology Institute (now the Department of Methodology). In 2007 he was elected Pro-director for planning and resources at the School. He is now Professor emeritus of Social Psychology and Research Methodology.
His research focuses on science and society, including expert and lay representations of risk; public ethics, and the governance of science and technology. He coordinated the series of Eurobarometer surveys on Biotechnology and the Life Sciences for D.G. Research and was principal investigator in two E.C. projects: ‘Life Sciences in European Society’, involving researchers in 14 European countries, with associate teams in Canada and the US, to conduct a comparative investigation into the reception of modern biotechnologies in the public sphere, and ‘Sensitive technologies and European Public Ethics’. He was a central figure in an FP7 project on responsible research and innovation in neuro-enhancement (NERRI). With colleagues he has a number of publications in Science, Nature and Nature Biotechnology dispassionately articulating the European public perspective on controversial issues in science and technology including GMOs; biobanking; human embryonic stem cell research; neuro-enhancement, and gene editing.
He has been a member of the Advisory Group on Risk Communication of the European Food Safety Authority; chair of the International Advisory Committee of the Centre for Society and Genomics in the Netherlands; vice-chair of the European Commission’s Science and Society Advisory Committee for FP6, and a member of the Science in Society Committee of the Royal Society London. He is now a member of the Social Science Advisory Committee of the Food Standard Agency UK and participating in an E.C. SWAFS study investigating remedies for the reproducibility crisis in the non-medical sciences.

Helga Nowotny

Helga Nowotny, Professor emerita of ETH Zurich in Science and Technology Studies (STS) is a founding member and Former President of the European Research Council. She holds a PhD in sociology from Columbia University (New York) and a doctorate in jurisprudence from the University of Vienna.

Helga Nowotny’s research encompasses a broad range of topics in science and technology studies (STS) including science and innovation policy. Among other, she has published on the changing relationship between science and society, including scientific controversies and technological risks, on the emergence of high-temperature superconductivity as a research field, on social time, coping with uncertainty, self-organization in science and women in science. During her distinguished academic career she held teaching and research positions at the Institute of Advanced Study in Vienna and at the University of Vienna; the University of Bielefeld; Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Ssciences Socials in Paris; Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin; Science Center for Social Sciences in Berlin; Collegium Budapest/Institute of Advanced Study and Collegium Helveticum at ETH Zurich.

In parallel to her academic work, Professor Nowotny has been intensely engaged in research policy, especially at European level. For many years she chaired the Social Sciences Committee of the European Science Foundation, was a member of ESTA and later Chair of EURAB, the European Research Advisory Board, advising the European Commission. She was a Founding Member of the European Research Council, ERC, and was elected Vice-President in 2007. From March 2010 until December 2013 she was President of the ERC. Following her return to Austria she became Chair of the ERA Council Austria and member of the Austrian Council, advising the Minister responsible for Science and Research and the Austrian Government respectively. She is member of the Board of the Falling Walls conference in Berlin and Vice-President of the Board of the Lindau Nobel Laureates meetings. She is also Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna and the IAS at the University of Amsterdam; Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Centre de la Recherche Interdisciplinaire, CRI, in Pairs; member of the Conseil Scientifique de l’IEA-de-Paris and other institutions in Europe.
Her scientific achievements and her engagement in research policy have been honoured by many awards. She received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Bergen, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leuven, Lueneburg, Oxford, Twente, Singapore, as well as from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. She received the J.D. Bernal Prize for life-long achievements in STS, the Gold Medal of the Academia Europaea, the President’s Medal of the British Academy, the Leibniz Medal and was appointed Fellow of AAAS. She is an honorary member of Academies of Science in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Sweden.
Together with her colleagues Professor Nowotny published the influential book The New Production of Knowledge (1994) and Re-thinking Science. Knowledge and the Public in an Age of Uncertainty (2001) in which they coined the term “Mode 2” for a new mode of research focused on solving problems in the context of specific application in contrast to “Mode 1” which is basic research done within disciplinary boundaries. Among her other publications in English are The Public Nature of Science Under Assault (co-author, 2005); Cultures of Technology and the Quest for Innovation (ed.2006); Insatiable Curiosity. Innovation in a Fragile Future (2008); Naked Genes. Reinventing the Human in the Molecular Age (with Giuseppe Testa, 2010); The Cunning of Uncertainty (2015); An Orderly Mess (2017) and A Manifesto for Social Progress. Ideas for a Better Society (co-author, 2018).

Vasilis Koulaidis

Vasilis Koulaidis served as Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Life Long Learning and Religions. He is Professor Emeritus of the University of Peloponnese, and Vice President for Development, at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus. He studied Chemical Engineering at National Technical University of Athens, and obtained a PhD in Educational Policy at the University of London.

Vasilis Koulaidis has held several research and professorial posts in universities in Greece and the UK, in the fields of education and pedagogy. His research fed onto dozens of books, book chapters and articles in such journals as Public Understanding of Science, Research in Science Education, International Journal of Learning, Science Education, Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies, Educational Studies, International Journal of Science Education, Didaskalia, and European Journal of Teacher Education.

He also hold numerous administrative posts in Greece and abroad, in the field of education policy, including special Advisor to the Greek Minister of Education; representative of Greece in the Education Committee of OECD; President of the group for the Greek Presidency (Education) of European Union; Vice President and Executive Director of the Greek National Education Research Center; member of the Education Committee of European Union; Head of the Foundation for Science and Technology for the evaluation of research proposals related to education, member of the committee for the evaluation of research units for higher education, and Member of the National Council for Social Sciences and the Humanities, all three in Portugal.

Vasilis Koulaidis is a member of the Hellenic Association for Didactis of Science, the Technical Chambers of Greece, the European Science Education Research Association, the International Organization for Science and Technology and of the Scientific Committee of the International Network on Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST network).

The 2nd
Gago Conference on European Science Policy
Vienna | September 21^st
2018