Dr. Melanie Peters became director of the Rathenau Institute on 1 February 2015.
Dr. Peters has a broad background in science, industry and the public sector, combined with ample experience of national and international politics and social relations. She studied food technology at Wageningen University, and became a certified toxicologist. At Imperial College, London, she received a PhD in biochemistry.
Dr. Peters worked as a scientific researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, and led a research team at Shell Research and Technology Centre Amsterdam. She has held various positions combining science, policy, politics and social issues at the Ministry of Agriculture, the Dutch Consumer Association, and as director of Utrecht University’s Studium Generale scientific discussion platform.