Renate Mayntz is Founding Director emeritus at the Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Societies at Cologne. Her general research interests are the development of science and of technology, the relationship between science and politics, transnational structures and »global« governance, and theories of society/social systems. She has published more than thirty books and numerous papers. She received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Paris X – Nanterre, the University of Uppsala, and the European University Institute in Florence.