Netherlands Graduate School of Science, Technology and Modern Culture

WTMC is a collective effort of scholars based in the Netherlands who study the development of science, technology and modern culture from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Members of WTMC have backgrounds in the history, sociology and philosophy of science and technology, and other interdisciplinary fields including innovation studies, gender studies and cultural studies. WTMC is pluralistic not only in terms of discipline, but also in terms of objects of study, and methods and approaches used.

WTMC started as a network in 1987, and was officially accredited as an interuniversity graduate research school by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in 1995. Accreditation has been reconfirmed in 2000, 2005, 2011 and 2017.

The academic director of the Graduate School is Professor Esther Turnhout.

The coordinators are Dr. Alexandra Supper and Dr. Evelien de Hoop.

Professor Harro van Lente chairs the board.

WTMC has four objectives:

  • 1

    High quality, advanced training

    to provide high quality, advanced training for PhD candidates who study science, technology and modern culture, and thus to create new generations of scholars with a solid background in this interdisciplinary field (often referred to as STS – ‘Science and Technology Studies’, or ‘Science, Technology & Society’)

  • 2

    High quality research

    to stimulate and coordinate high quality research about science, technology and modern culture

  • 3

    Contribute to societal debates

    to contribute to societal debates about the role of science and technology in society

  • 4

    Promote the visibility of STS

    to promote the visibility of STS as a field amongst research funding agencies, universities and others concerned with research and education policy.

About WTMC

Netherlands Graduate School of Science, Technology and Modern Culture.

WTMC is a collective effort of scholars based in the Netherlands who study the development of science, technology and modern culture from an interdisciplinary perspective.

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