Sarah de Rijcke is Professor of Science, Technology, and Innovation Studies and Scientific Director at CWTS, Leiden University, Netherlands. At CWTS, she chairs the Science and Evaluation Studies (SES) research group. She is also co-chair of the Research on Research Institute (RoRI), founded by Wellcome Trust, University of Sheffield, Leiden University, and Digital Science.

Professor de Rijcke specialises in social studies of research evaluation, and has published widely on the topic of the relations between quality control mechanisms and knowledge production in different fields. She has also developed a strong international public academic presence with outreach activities in science policy, speaking frequently on the topic of research evaluation and metrics uses. Professor de Rijcke is one of the co-authors of the highly influential Leiden Manifesto for research metrics and is the world-leading expert on responsible research evaluation and metrics uses.

Professor de Rijcke's talk is titled "Responsible Research Assessment & the acid test"

James Wilsdon is Digital Science Professor of Research Policy in the Information School at the University of Sheffield and Director of the Research on Research Institute (RoRI). Professor Wilsdon is an interdisciplinary social scientist who works on the governance and management of science and research, and the relationship between evidence and decision-making. Over the past 25 years, in addition to academic posts at the universities of Sheffield, Sussex and Lancaster, he has worked in public policy, think tanks and as director of science policy for the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science. He is a co-founder of the Research on Research Institute (RoRI) - an international consortium of research funders, academic institutions, and technologists working to champion transformative and translational research on research on research systems, cultures and decision-making. RoRI will analyse and experiment with decision and evaluation data, tools and frameworks, in order to advance more strategic, open, diverse and inclusive research. From 2014-15, Professor Wilsdon chaired a UK government review of the role of metrics in the management of the research system, published as "The Metric Tide", and a subsequent European Commission expert group on “Next Generation Metrics”. In 2018, he co-authored with Richard Jones a high-profile report on "The Biomedical Bubble”, which explored the challenges of diversity, balance and prioritisation in research funding systems.

Professor Wilsdon's talk is titled "The post-pandemic politics of research prioritisation"