Theo Mulder

How to stimulate international scientific cooperation

“A hectic position at the crossroads of science policy, management and ideas on how to improve the scientific landscape in the Netherlands” – that is how Theo Mulder describes his role as scientific director of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), where he is responsible for the the 19 Royal Academy Institutes in the Netherlands, employing a total of 1,200 people.

The KNAW is a scientific “learned” society of 200 carefully selected scientists. The Academy advises the government on scientific matters, and stimulates international scientific cooperation. Besides the Academy monitors the quality of scientific research, and manages the 19 academy institutes.

Mulder started his scientific career in Nijmegen, where he studied psychology and obtained his PhD with a study on the recovery of motor control after brain damage. In 1986, he was asked to found a department for research into motor disorders at the Sint Maartenskliniek in Nijmegen, which was a joint venture with the Radboud University in Nijmegen. In 1994 he was appointed as a professor of Rehabilitation Research in Nijmegen.  

Just before the turn of the century, in 1999 Mulder became professor of Human Movement Sciences at the University of Groningen and Director of the Center for Human Movement Studies in Groningen. He is the author of 140 articles and 3 books.  His research includes studies of motor imagery and learning, with experiments revealing that it is possible to learn movements without actually executing them, but by mentally imaging the execution of the movement. MRI experiments showed that by imagining a movement the same areas in the brain are active as by actually executing them. Imagination or the real world?  For the brain the boundaries are not sharp.