Profile

Biography

Ibo van de Poel is Professor in Ethics and Technology at TU Delft and Scientific Director of the Delft Design for Values Institute. He serves as Integrity Officer of TU Delft and is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). He is one of the principal investigators of the gravitation program Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies, which investigates how emerging technologies challenge and reshape the concepts and values by which society governs them.

Van de Poel is one of the architects of the design for values approach—a systematic methodology for integrating ethical values into technological design. His contributions include foundational work on value embedding in technology, methods for translating values into design requirements, and frameworks for navigating value conflicts in design processes. He co-edited the leading international Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design (Springer). His ERC Advanced Grant-funded research extended this field by developing a theory of value change in sociotechnical systems, examining how values themselves evolve through technological development.

His work bridges academic scholarship with societal application. He has led European projects on responsible innovation in industry and regularly advises companies, policymakers, and engineering practitioners.

Van de Poel has made lasting contributions to engineering ethics education. He was instrumental in embedding ethics teaching across TU Delft's engineering curriculum and co-authored Ethics, Technology, and Engineering (Wiley-Blackwell), a widely used international textbook now in its second edition. He led the development of AGORA, a digital platform for engineering ethics education adopted internationally, including in Japan.

He has supervised over 30 PhD researchers and postdocs and numerous master's students. In 2024, he received TU Delft's Professor of Excellence Award in recognition of his mentorship and academic leadership.

Within the KNAW, Van de Poel serves on committees addressing scientific freedom and academic integrity. He is a member of ALLEA's Research Ethics and Integrity Council.

Key Publications

Articles and book chapters

• Van de Poel, I. (2025). The distinction between generic and specific concepts and why it matters for conceptual engineering. Inquiry. doi.org
• Van de Poel, I., & Kudina, O. (2022). Understanding technology-induced value change: A pragmatist proposal. Philosophy & Technology, 35(2), 40. doi.org
• Van de Poel, I. (2020). Embedding values in Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. Minds and Machines, 30(3), 385–409. doi.org
• Van de Poel, I., & Sand, M. (2018). Varieties of responsibility: Two problems of responsible innovation. Synthese. doi.org
• Van de Poel, I. (2016). An ethical framework for evaluating experimental technology. Science and Engineering Ethics, 22(3), 667–686. doi.org
• Van de Poel, I. (2013). Translating values into design requirements. In D. Michelfelder, N. McCarthy & D.E. Goldberg (Eds.), Philosophy and Engineering: Reflections on Practice, Principles and Process (pp. 253–266). Springer.

Books

• Van de Poel, I., & Royakkers, L. (2023). Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
• Van de Poel, I., Frank, L.E., Hermann, J., Hopster, J., Lenzi, D., Nyholm, S., Taebi, B., & Ziliotti, E. (Eds.). (2023). Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies: An Introduction. Open Book Publishers. doi.org
• Van den Hoven, J., Vermaas, P.E., & Van de Poel, I. (Eds.). (2015). Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design. Springer.
• Van de Poel, I., Royakkers, L., & Zwart, S.D. (2015). Moral Responsibility and the Problem of Many Hands. Routledge.
• Van de Poel, I., Mehos, D.C., & Asveld, L. (Eds.). (2018). New Perspectives on Technology in Society: Experimentation Beyond the Laboratory. Routledge.
• Van de Poel, I., & Goldberg, D.E. (Eds.). (2010). Philosophy and Engineering: An Emerging Agenda. Springer.

Grants (selection)

• 2025 – NWO AMBITIONS: Accelerating multiple transitions in the built environment by aligning values
• 2019 – NWO Gravitation: Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies
• 2018 – ERC Advanced Grant: Design for changing values: a theory of value change in sociotechnical systems
• 2015 – EU Horizon 2020 PRISMA: Piloting RRI in Industry: a roadmap for transformative technologies
• 2011 – NWO VICI: New technologies as social experiments: conditions for morally responsible experimentation

Related research

• Ethical and regulatory issues raised by synthetic biology
• Ethical aspects of upscaling an innovative water treatment technology
• Ethical issues in engineering design
• Moral responsibility in R&D networks
• New Technologies as Social Experiments

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Related blogs

• How to incorporate changing values in new technology?