Willem Halffman is senior lecturer in Science & Technology Studies at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands and associate member of the Centre for Science, Knowledge and Policy (SKAPE) at Edinburgh University.

As a sociologist of science, he studies scientific misconduct, research error, and error correction processes in the context of scientific publishing. He coordinated the PRINTEGER project on research integrity and is currently researching error correction in nanobiology with the ERC NanoBubbles project.

In the past, he studied the processes of co-construction of science and policy, including the long-term mutual influences that shape regulatory institutions in domains such as environmental hazards of chemicals, nature conservation, regional planning, and fisheries. He is interested in how boundaries of expertise are negotiated and institutionalised, particularly in the competition between research fields, lay and local knowledge; or in how expertise is materialised in tests, or formalised in protocols. This work has resulted in the co-authored book Environmental Expertise (Cambridge UP 2018).

Until 2014 he was a coordinator of the Dutch graduate school for Science, Technology, and Modern Culture, training the majority of Dutch PhD students in Science and Technology Studies, for which he has organised numerous workshops and summer schools. He currently teaches science and society courses to natural scientists, history of biology, and science & public policy.

Willem is active in academic politics, as a founding member of H.NU, a Dutch movement for more public, democratic, and reasonable universities. In recent years, he has been part of the core group in WOinActie. As an activist, he has published the widely acclaimed “Academic Manifesto” about the state of universities, together with Hans Radder.

Positions

Academic
2017-	Senior Lecturer (UHD), Institute of Science and Innovation Studies (ISIS), Faculty of Science, Radboud University Nijmegen.
2016-17	Part-time Visiting Scholar, Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Univ. Leiden.
2015	Visiting Scholar, Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities, U. Edinburgh.
2014-	Associate Member of the Centre for Science, Knowledge and Policy (SKAPE-NET), U. Edinburgh.
2010-	Lecturer, Philosophy and Science Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen
2008-2013	Co-coordinator PhD training programme of the research school Science, Technology and Modern Culture.
2008-2010	Lecturer, Science, Technology, Health and Policy Studies, Twente University.
2007	Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam.
2002-2006	Post-doc and lecturer at the department of Science, Technology, Health and Policy Studies, Twente University. NWO project “Rethinking Political Judgement and Science-based Expertise”
1999-2001	Contract research and consultant (Rathenau Institute, Royal Academy of Sciences,…)
1998-1999	Lecturer at Science and Technology Dynamics, University of Amsterdam
1995-1998	Consultancy and contract research
1996	“Assistant managing editor” van Science, Technology, & Human Values, journal of the Society for the Social Studies of Science.
1993-1996	Co-editor of Zeno, magazine on science, technology, and society.
1991-1994	Phd position at Science and Technology Dynamics, University of Amsterdam
Current boards & Committees
Board member WTMC
Education
1991-1993	National graduate school Science and Technology Studies, The Netherlands.
1990-1991	‘Special License’ Science Studies, Free University of Brussels, cum laude.
1988-1989	Masters Programme Sociology, Columbia University, NY, USA, interrupted.
1986-1988	‘Licence’ Sociology, Free University of Brussels, both years cum laude.
1984-1986	‘Candidate’ Political and Social Sciences, St. Ignatius University Antwerp, both years cum laude.