Podcast on Inclusive Research and Innovation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

About Podcast on Inclusive Research and Innovation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

This podcast series explores projects about inclusive research innovation (IRI) in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). IRI takes place whenever STEM scholars actively integrate the diversity of human beings in their work, contributing to inclusive processes and results. Join Dr. Claudia Werker from Delft University of Technology as she talks with colleagues across numerous disciplines about their challenges and successes engaging in IRI in STEM.

Publisher

Dr. Claudia Werker

Category

science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

13 Dec 2023

Latest episode

3 Sept 2025

Latest episodes

13 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   3 Sept 2025

   Inclusive Cities and Finance through Stakeholder Involvement

   Stakeholder involvement we have been discussing as core element developing concepts such as Responsible Research and Innovation or Values by Design. Yet how can we involve stakeholders, i.e. those affected by innovation and research processes and outcomes – yet not able to influence them. Dr. Almudena de la Mata (CEO of BlockchAIn Intelligence) shares her methodological insights of how to do this. Giving concrete examples, she explains to the host, Dr. Claudia Werker (Delft University of Technology) how to do it to make cities and finance more inclusive. Solutions do not only increase the participation of stakeholders, e.g. by giving women better access to financial services but might also involve nudging them to choose for better solutions by providing a blockchain-based reward system in the case of more inclusive cities.

2. 

   20 May 2025

   Inclusive Health Care for Women

   In health care women are still treated as if they are small men even though they are not. We know very well that women and men suffer from different illnesses, present with different symptoms while suffering of the same illness, and react differently to medication. While there are some best practices scattered across the various disciplines of medical health, an overarching picture of what is needed for inclusive health care for women is missing. Please listen to one of the women who are about to change this: Prof. Dr. Hanneke Takkenberg, affiliated with both the Erasmus Medical Centre and the Erasmus Business School in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Together with two colleagues she just founded founded the Netherlands Women’s Health Research & Innovation Center (https://www.erasmusmc.nl/en/research/women). In this episode of our podcast series Inclusive Research and Innovation (IRI) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Dr. Claudia Werker (Delft University of Technology), asks her about her engagement for women’s health. Hanneke shares how inclusive health care for women requires more interdisciplinary collaboration between different disciplines in health care and beyond, more and other kinds of data collection as well as close collaboration with patient groups and Femtech firms.

3. 

   8 Apr 2025

   Turning data of diverse human beings into Inclusive Research and Innovation in STEM

   Data is a major challenge for IRI in STEM. Collecting data of diverse individual human beings comes with at least two major challenges. The first one is being in line with the legislation on privacy and data use. This often includes dealing with ethical issues that might arise. The second one is analysing this data in a meaningful way. In this podcast we meet Dr. Nikolas Dintzer and Dr. Santosh Ilamparuthi, two data stewards of Delft University of Technology. They share their insights on how to collect and analyse (sensitive) data of diverse, sometimes vulnerable, human beings with you and the host, Dr. Claudia Werker. Nikolas and Santosh demonstrate that there is no size fits it all in data collection and analysis. Moreover, they show important and valuable it is to talk to data stewards very early in your research process. In doing so, you can figure out your way towards a compliant, ethical and meaningful data use in your IRI in STEM project.

4. 

   23 Feb 2025

   How can policy enable Inclusive Research and Innovation in STEM happen?

   Policy can be a crucial enabler of IRI in STEM. In this episode, Dr. Frauke Frauke Hoss, policy officer at DG GROW working on policy for internal market and industry at the European Commission, explains how this is possible to the host, Dr. Claudia Werker, Delft University of Technology. Frauke has been working diligently to make products safer for all kinds of users in the past. One important step has been the study on the inclusiveness of anthropometrics in European harmonised standards (https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/1712e683-b4ec-11ee-b164-01aa75ed71a1/language-en). The results of this study show how diverse people in the EU are. And this matters in various ways. To give an example, the size of people’s ears is important for producing fitting ear plugs. While larger companies might be able to do their own research on this, the cost of such a study might be prohibitively high for small and medium-sized companies. Moreover, anthropometric data is available for U.S. citizens and – in the absence of EU data - was used for designing masks during the Corona pandemic. Yet EU citizens might have different measurements leading to non-fitting products. So, this matters for meeting consumers’ needs within the EU and competitiveness of EU firms. Please join us for fascinating insights and examples in the world of product standards.

5. 

   16 Jan 2025

   How to do Inclusive Research and Innovation (IRI) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)?

   In this episode we look back at what we learned from our guests in season one of this podcast series on IRI in STEM. TianQing Yen and I discuss what stood out and what is our take-away. We end with a brief peak-review for season two.

6. 

   10 Jul 2024

   Exploring Inclusive Robots: Future of Work

   David Abbink from Delft University of Technology, the current winner of the prestigious Stevin bonus, shares insights on his research on the future of work. Together with the host, Dr. Claudia Werker from the same university, he has been working together in a vision team on robots at work. This is the last episode of our podcast series on Inclusive Research and Innovation (IRI) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) before the summer break. David Abbink is a full professor in haptic human-robot interaction and a mechanical engineer specializing in sensory motor control. He shares his journey from initially focusing on human-robot interaction within traditional engineering disciplines to embracing a more interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach. This approach involves collaborating with social scientists, designers, and industry stakeholders to develop innovative and inclusive technological solutions. David highlights the significance of considering the diverse needs of workers in different industries throughout the research and development process. The goal of technological interventions are not only to improve efficiency but also job satisfaction and inclusivity. He emphasizes the importance of responsible research and innovation in his interdisciplinary work and discusses the challenges of adapting technologies to diverse and challenging work environments.

7. 

   11 Jun 2024

   Inclusive Mobility Systems for Everyone

   Needs in mobility differ considerably for people of different age, gender, income, and environmental awareness. In the episode of our podcast series on Inclusive Research and Innovation (IRI) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Mara Tanelli from Politecnico di Milano shares how to develop inclusive mobility systems for everyone with the host, i.e. Claudia Werker from Delft University of Technology. In particular, Mara discusses how researchers can utilize data to construct these systems by focusing on technology adoption drivers, building social networks, and designing equitable policies within her data-driven framework. She highlights the importance of data privacy and the value of interdisciplinary collaboration with social scientists and policymakers to create inclusive technologies. Mara Tanelli combines her tasks as a full professor in Automatic Control at Politecnico Milano with being her rector’s delegate for diversity and inclusion. Mara and Claudia are both members of the IDEA League’s working group on Gendered and Inclusive Research and Innovation. In this network, they have been working on how to make inclusive research and innovation the gold standard in STEM research and innovation.

8. 

   8 May 2024

   Inclusive Design for Medical Devices in Surgery

   How can researchers make the design of medical devices more inclusive? Measuring characteristics of patients correctly can make all the different, e.g. in surgery, because it improves effectiveness of outcomes. In this episode of our podcast series on Inclusive Research and Innovation (IRI) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Prof. Dr. Domenico Della Volpe from Geneva University shares insights on his research with the host, Dr. Claudia Werker from Delft University of Technology. Both have been working on the @ATTRACT  (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fattract-eu%2Fabout%2F&data=05%7C02%7CF.Konstantinidis%40student.tudelft.nl%7Cdeac404da9e44650207d08dc69a0a922%7C096e524d692940308cd38ab42de0887b%7C0%7C0%7C638501385944624826%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Jw34fuzZnAdppJrper4AEqCM7J5YmrtYGhlAiMviLAQ%3D&reserved=0)project: Domenico on the engineering side and Claudia on the business side of the project. Dominico Della Volpe is a particle physicist with a keen interest in Radio-Guided Surgery (RGS) in nuclear medicine. In this podcast, he shares his journey developing a new medical device, POSICS-2, for tumor treatment through RGS, highlighting how the diverse needs of individuals influence the final design of such devices. Domenico stresses both the vital role of interdisciplinary collaboration and the need to address unconscious biases in research to make Inclusive Research and Innovation in STEM happen. Learn more about the development of POSICS-2 tumour treatment medical device within the ATTRACT project: https://phase2.attract-eu.com/projects/posics-2/ (https://phase2.attract-eu.com/projects/posics-2/)

9. 

   10 Apr 2024

   Special: Meet the Host!

   We are halfway through our first season and thought it was time to introduce the host of the podcast series Inclusive Research and Innovation (IRI) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)! In this special mini-episode, research assistant Tian Qing Yen interviews the host of the series Dr. Claudia Werker from Delft University of Technology. Claudia explains how she became interested in IRI in STEM and shares some of the challenges and opportunities she has faced in both doing research on and promoting IRI in STEM.

10. 

    13 Mar 2024

    Inclusive Speech Recognition and Processing

    Speech recognition and processing tools are everywhere – from speech-to-text transcription, to voice commands on your phone, to filtering background noise in video calls. However, many automatic speech recognition systems do not perform as well with diverse speakers, i.e. people with an accent, with a speech impediment, or even young or old speakers. Adjusting this technology to recognize different ways of speaking has the potential to make these systems and the tools that depend on them more accessible and inclusive. What challenges and opportunities are there for developing and using more inclusive speech recognition and processing? In this episode of our podcast series Inclusive Research and Innovation (IRI) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Dr. Claudia Werker from Delft University of Technology talks to her colleague Dr. Odette Scharenborg from the same university. Dr. Scharenborg’s research looks at how to improve speech recognition systems for non-standard speakers. She explains that while acquiring and processing the varied data she needs for her work is challenging, it has also led to opportunities to connect with diverse speakers, to advocate for them, and to help them practically navigate using speech recognition tools. Learn more about Dr. Scharenborg's research: Feng, S., Halpern, B., Kudina, O., & Scharenborg, O. Towards inclusive automatic speech recognition (⁠https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885230823000864⁠) (2024) Feng, S., Kudina, O., Halpern, B., & Scharenborg, O. Quantifying bias in automatic speech recognition (⁠https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.15122⁠) (2021)

11. 

    14 Feb 2024

    Inclusive Algorithms for a More Just World

    It is easy to recognize that social media feeds or search results vary for different people. However, it is less clear how much of that bias comes from the way people interact online, and how much is the result of algorithms that are used to filter or rank content. Scholars trying to disentangle this bias recognize the importance of considering diversity in their research. However, analysing algorithmic biases and ways to avoid or overcome them still comes with many challenges. For instance, how do you involve the perspectives of people who are not represented in datasets? Or how do you define what makes an algorithm “fair”, let alone measure fairness? In this episode of our podcast series Inclusive Research and Innovation (IRI) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Dr. Claudia Werker (Delft University of Technology) interviews Prof. Dr. Claudia Wagner from RWTH Aachen University. She shares her vision for an infrastructure platform that could facilitate more inclusive methods and data collection in her field of research.

12. 

    10 Jan 2024

    Inclusive Medical Research and Health Care

    We have known for decades that human beings have differing symptoms and reactions to treatment in the medical sector. Yet progress regarding inclusive medical research and health seems to be slow. To give an example: trials for developing medical drugs usually only include healthy men between 18 and 45 years of age. This means that these trials do not show how medical drugs work for women, children, elderly people, people with a non-white background and patients with comorbidities. How would medical research and health care have to change be inclusive? In this episode of our podcast series Inclusive Research and Innovation (IRI) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Dr. Claudia Werker from Delft University of Technology interviews Dr. Irene Grossmann from the same university. Dr. Grossmann is both a medical surgeon and an expert in how to make health care safe for all patients. She shares with us that collecting and interpreting the right data is crucial for including all patients in medical research and health care. This requires changes in both how we do research and also how we teach our students.

13. 

    13 Dec 2023

    Diversity of crash test dummies? Safety and security in automobiles

    Crash-test dummies have not been mirroring the bodies of women and men of all sizes and shapes. We know from research that women – although less frequently involved in accidents – are more severely injured and more often die if they are. Would diversifying crash-test dummies help make more people more safe and secure? Are there other aspects that will ensure better safety and security protection in automobiles for all human beings? In the first episode of our podcast series Inclusive Research and Innovation (IRI) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Dr. Claudia Werker from Delft University of Technology interviews three experts from Graz University of Technology about these questions. Dr. Cornelia Lex, Dr. Mario Hirz and Dr. Corina Klug share insights about safety and security in cars. For instance, safety depends on both characteristics of the drivers and passengers such as age and gender, and on other aspects like behaviour. Safety and security in cars also start much earlier than preventing injuries in accidents, particularly with ergonomics and the interior design of cars. Moreover, autonomous cars provide these researchers with additional challenges regarding safety and security. Learn more about consumer safety information for cars mentioned by Dr. Corina Klug (30:22) - https://www.euroncap.com/en (https://www.euroncap.com/en)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

4.3 / 5

6 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 19 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

18

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

51

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Guest appearances

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