The Group

We are an interdisciplinary group of social scientists interested in collaborative research practices with a transformative potential for societal impact. The group is part of a dynamic and interdisciplinary academic community working in cultural studies of science and science and technology studies (STS). Our current research is funded by the external pageSwiss National Science Foundationcall_made external page(PRIMA)call_made, the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (external pageSERIcall_made) and the external pageEuropean Commissioncall_made external page(Horizon Europe)call_made, and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (external pageSFOEcall_made)

To investigate collaborative research practices and their context, we take a cultural approach. Thereby we account for collaborative research as a social practice, historically situated and contingent, imbued with values, norms, and the cultural (and disciplinary) socialisation of the people interacting with it. We want to understand the underlying systems of meaning that are created by and guide research practices. This implies also understanding the wider societal and cultural context in which research is embedded. The boundaries between that context and scientific work are often more blurred than we are aware. Our research goes beyond the scientific sphere and appreciates its societal embeddedness.

The study of collaborative practices provides important opportunities to redefine and to reinvent methods and conceptual frameworks in evaluating research and can therefore indirectly benefit the policy and funding sectors. We consider the perspectives of a variety of actors that are affected by and in turn affect research practices. By studying the complex relationships between research and society, and between different types and cultures of research, we look behind the normative and beyond the presumed “self-evident” state of things. We believe this can be achieved by taking a critical stance towards how things are done, and towards our own assumptions. We employ and combine a diverse range of methods and theories from anthropology, sociology, political science, cognitive science and philosophy of science, among other disciplines. We are guided by our curiosity and our openness to surprising answers.