Tomáš Michálek
MY BACKGROUND:
My background is in international relations and diplomacy. Currently, I work as research manager at the Department of Research and Development of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Since 2012, I have been dealing mostly with the concepts of technology assessment, science & technology studies, responsible research & innovation, public engagement, and foresight. Among other things, I have participated in the projects on Parliaments and Civil Society in Technology Assessment, Citizens and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon 2020 and Science meets Parliaments. Moreover, I am a Slovak member of the Horizon Europe sub-group for Mission: Adaptation to climate change, including societal transformation.
WHY AM I INTERESTED IN RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION:
I was introduced to the concept of responsible research and innovation through working on technology assessment projects. I was always fascinated by connecting different kind of understandings of the world around us. First, I was trained in international relations and political science where the fine line between understandings is somehow easily defined by a state border. People can understand current situation or history differently depending on which side of the border they stay. In my technology assessment work or when dealing with science-policy interface, we face very similar situation, in my opinion, with the only exception that the dividing line is not so clearly visible here. And that goes with responsible research and innovation as well. Bringing all the relevant actors together, make them understand each other and come up with a solution fascinates me a lot. Knowledge brokering between several bubbles of understandings and making people step out of their comfort zone in order to create something bigger.
WHAT DO I HOPE TO LEARN / CONTRIBUTE AS COUNTRY CORRESPONDENT:
Having been working for the Slovak Academy of Sciences, which is a major research performing (and partly also funding) organization, for several years now, I believe that RFOs and RPOs can greatly shape a general approach towards responsible research and innovation in the scientific community, especially in a small country like Slovakia. As SUPER MoRRI country correspondent, I hope I can contribute to better mapping of the current situation in Slovakia and helping to funnel the understanding of the importance of responsible research and innovation approach towards a stronger need for active involvement. Moreover, I hope to learn more about defining and testing indicators for responsible research and innovation and, while studying several RFOs and RPOs in Slovakia, to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of these organizations and also about the specifics of the Slovak research and innovation environment in terms of responsible research and innovation and beyond.