Analysing the translation of the discourse of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) into practice at Wageningen University and Research

The Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in Practice project sought to identify the challenges and barriers of implementing RRI in organisations, including Wageningen University and Research (WUR). Notwithstanding instances of significant institutional entrepreneurship and experimentation, RRI institutionalisation was reported to be encountering significant forces of incumbency and substantial barriers associated with extant norms, cultures and competing logics, in part legitimated by influential external drivers and research policies. While developing recommendations for WUR, the project insufficiently connected the barriers and challenges to theories of organisational change aimed at understanding how new discourses become institutionalised in practice and old discourses de-institutionalised. For this Masters, you explore these dynamics in relation to one of two strategic practices (for example, this may include debates on tenure track criteria, on partnerships with industry, and/or on impact).

Type of research activities

Literature review of social science literature. Analysis of grey literature including strategic documentation produced at WUR. Qualitative research involving interviews with relevant personnel at WUR.

Type of student

Background in the social sciences. Broad interest in responsible research and innovation and organisational change.