How to find truth in an ocean of correlations – with breakers, still waters, tidal waves, and undercurrents? In the old age of responsible research and publication, we would collect estimates reported in previous research, and compute a correlation across correlations in a meta-analysis. Those days are long gone.

De werkgroep Filantropische Studies van de Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is het expertisecentrum op het gebied van onderzoek naar filantropie in Nederland. De werkgroep houdt zich bezig met vragen zoals: Waarom geven mensen vrijwillig geld aan goede doelen? Waarom verrichten mensen vrijwilligerswerk? Hoeveel geld gaat er om in de filantropische sector?

RQ: Which regions of the brain are active when task X is performed? Results: Activity in some regions Y is higher than in others.

Presentatie rapport ‘Culturele instellingen in Nederland’ Werkgroep Filantropische Studies Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam   Vrijdag 10 juni 2016, Theater Griffioen, Uilenstede 106, 1183 AM, Amstelveen   In 2012 werd de Geefwet ingevoerd met een multiplier die de aftrekbaarheid van giften aan culturele instellingen verhoogde.

Contribution to the March 2016 edition of the European Research Network on Philanthropy (ERNOP) newsletter. PDF version here. Philanthropy can take many forms.

“Thank you for your invitation to review. Did the authors provide the data and the code they have used to produce the paper? Will the paper be published in open access mode? If twice yes, I will consider reviewing the paper.” This is my new automatic reply to requests for review journal articles that I receive from editors and their assistants.

Recently the EUFORI Study was published, in which a network of experts coordinated from our Center for Philanthropic Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam mapped the support from foundations for research and innovation in Europe. Read the synthesis report here. The research was based on an extensive survey of 1 591 foundations supporting R&I in Europe and a qualitative analysis of 29 different country reports.

The Center for Philanthropic Studies I am leading at VU Amsterdam is converting to Open Science. Open Science offers four advantages to the scientific community, nonprofit organizations, and the public at large: Access: we make our work more easily accessible for everyone. Our research serves public goods, which are served best by open access. Efficiency: we make it easier for others to build on our work, which saves time.

This post in pdf With the year 2020 on the horizon, the recently published work programme for Research & Innovation from European Commission for the years 2016-2017 is organized around a limited set of Societal Challenges. Europe defined these challenges after a long process of lobbying and consultation with many stakeholders. Going through the list I could not help thinking that something was missing.

[*] Deze tekst als pdf downloaden Burgerkracht, lokale actie, de doe-democratie, de participatiesamenleving: we komen deze termen steeds vaker tegen in de politiek, de media en beleidsstukken van de overheid en adviesorganen. De termen fungeren in een fundamenteel debat over de verdeling van verantwoordelijkheid van burgers en de overheid voor het welzijn van anderen en de samenleving.

This is a summary in English. Download this post in PDF here. Prof. R.H.F.P. Bekkers, Ph.D., Prof. Th.N.M. Schuyt, Ph.D., & Gouwenberg, B.M. (Eds., 2015). Giving in the Netherlands: Donations, Bequests, Sponsoring and Volunteering. Amsterdam: Reed Business.