Document is current

Article History

Received: 26 January 2018

Accepted: 27 December 2018

First Online: 11 January 2019

Authors’ information

: Marion de Vries, MSc is a PhD student at the RIVM, with an academic background in Sociology and Global Health.Prof. Patrick Kenis is Professor of Public Governance at the School of Economics and Management and Director of the Tilburg Institute of Governance (TIG) at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He has extensive experience of Social Science research in the field of organisations, inter- and intra-organisational relationships and policy networks. His research is currently focused on the governance and effectiveness of networks.Marleen Kraaij-Dirkzwager is a Medical Doctor who has worked for many years as policy advisor in Infectious Disease Control. She has a special interest in the involvement of stakeholders in policy and research.Prof. Joost Ruitenberg is a Professor specialised in International Public Health at the Athena Institute for Innovative and Transdisciplinary Research in Health Sciences at the VU University, Amsterdam.Jörg Raab, PhD is Associate Professor for Policy and Organization Studies at the Department of Organization Studies/School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Tilburg University. His current research focuses predominantly on the management and effectiveness of inter-organisational networks and wicked policy problems.Prof. Aura Timen, MD, PhD is head of the National Coordination Centre for Communicable Disease Control (LCI) at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands and Professor of Responses to Communicable Diseases. She is an expert in the fields of outbreak management, guideline development, response to threat and crisis, and crises preparedness.

: Not applicable: In the Netherlands, a study needs ethical approval when it falls under the scope of the Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act (WMO). Then it must undergo a review by an accredited MREC or the CCMO. As, in general, research with human subjects only falls under the WMO if there is an infringement of the physical and/or psychological integrity of the subject, we had strong reasons to believe that our study did not require ethical approval. The respondents in our study all accepted the informed consent after having been informed about the purpose of the study and the voluntary nature of their participation. Anonymity of participation was ensured.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.