Marcel Levi, chairman of the board of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), discussed how science could connect better with society and argued that citizens should have more control. He also addressed criticism that scientists are more progressive and left-wing, as well as the state of science in the Netherlands while working toward a second term as NWO chairman.

Levi also spoke about the coronavirus crisis, drawing on his experience running seven hospitals in London. He described difficulties he encountered in maintaining care in England and discussed the parliamentary inquiry in the Netherlands, saying it should not become an exercise in assigning blame. He said he was surprised by the way ministers communicated about one another at the time. The conversation also covered his mother’s experience of having several safe houses during the Second World War and its influence on his youth and life.