Thomas Franssen

I'm a senior researcher at the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS), Leiden University and a coordinator of the Evaluation & Culture focal area. I have a background in the sociology of culture but migrated to science and technology studies and sociology of science after my PhD (University of Amsterdam, 2015).

My current work concerns the governance of science, specifically the epistemic effects of research evaluation and research funding. I am also exploring science in the Anthropocene, specifically sustainability in the laboratory life sciences through the introduction of LEAF and the 'Do No Significant Harm'-principle that was recently introduced in European Science POlicy.

I collaborate with colleagues at CWTS in different international projects such as R-Quest, led by Liv Langfeldt and Siri Borlaug, and Gender, Citizenship and Academic Power, with Agnete Vabø and Cathrine Egeland - both funded by the Research Council of Norway.

For pdfs of publications see www.thomasfranssen.net.

Publications

Journal publications (12)

• Franssen, T., & De Wilde, M. (2021). A clean energy future isn't set in stone. Nature Geoscience, 14(9), 636-637. (paper)
• Scholten, W., Franssen, T., van Drooge, L., De Rijcke, S., & Hessels, L.K. (2021). Funding for few, anticipation among all: effects of excellence funding on academic research groups. Science and Public Policy, 48(2), 265-275. (paper)
• Costas, R., Mongeon, P., Ferreira, M.R., Van Honk, J., & Franssen, T. (2020). Large-scale identification and characterization of scholars on Twitter. Quantitative Science Studies, 1(2), 771-791. (paper)
• Colavizza, G., Franssen, T., & Van Leeuwen, T.N. (2019). An empirical investigation of the Tribes and their Territories: are research specialisms rural and urban? Journal of Informetrics, 13(1), 105-117. (paper)
• Franssen, T., & Wouters, P. (2019). Science and its significant other: representing the humanities in bibliometric scholarship. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 70(10), 1124-1137. (paper)
• Hessels, L.K., Franssen, T., Scholten, W., & De Rijcke, S. (2019). Variation in Valuation: How Research Groups Accumulate Credibility in Four Epistemic Cultures. Minerva, 57(2), 127-149. (paper)
• Rushforth, A.D., Franssen, T., & De Rijcke, S. (2019). Portfolios of Worth. Capitalizing on Basic and Clinical Problems in Biomedical Research Groups. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 44(2), 209-236. (paper)
• Costas, R., & Franssen, T. (2018). Reflections around 'the cautionary use' of the h-index: response to Teixeira da Silva and Dobránszki. Scientometrics, 115(2), 1125-1130. (paper)
• Degn, L., Franssen, T., Sørensen, M.P., & De Rijcke, S. (2018). Research groups as communities of practice – a case study of four high-performing research groups. Higher Education, 76(2), 231-246. (paper)
• Franssen, T., Scholten, W., Hessels, L.K., & De Rijcke, S. (2018). The Drawbacks of Project Funding for Epistemic Innovation: Comparing Institutional Affordances and Constraints of Different Types of Research Funding. Minerva, 56(1), 11-33. (paper)
• De Rijcke, S., Wouters, P., Rushforth, A.D., Franssen, T., & Hammarfelt, B.M.S. (2016). Evaluation practices and effects of indicator use - A literature review. Research Evaluation, 25(2), 161-169. (paper)
• De Wilde, M., & Franssen, T. (2016). The material practices of quantification: Measuring ‘deprivation’ in the Amsterdam Neighbourhood Policy. Critical Social Policy, 36(4), 489-510. (paper)

Conference publications (1)

• De Rijcke, S., Holtrop, T.J., Kaltenbrunner, W., Zuijderwijk, J., Beaulieu, A., Franssen, T., Van Leeuwen, T.N., Mongeon, P., Tatum, C.C., Valkenburg, G., & Wouters, P. (2018). Evaluative Inquiry: Engaging research evaluation analytically and strategically. Vienna: EU Council Conference on Impact of Social Sciences and Humanities for a European Research Agenda – Valuation of SSH in mission-oriented research. In . doi:10.22163/fteval.2019.386 (paper)

Book chapters (1)

• Franssen, T., & De Rijcke, S. (2019). The rise of project funding and its effects on the social structure of academia. In F. Cannizzo, & N. Osbaldiston (Eds.), The Social Structures of Global Academia (pp. 144-161). Routledge. (paper)