INTERSECTIONS

Within the rationale of knowledge cultures, the various ways a scientific community understands and organises knowledge production, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity have been studied and theorised differently across different scientific communities. Commonly, they are considered to follow a logic of problem-solving, aiming at societal and scientific transformation in the face of complex problems. In practice, however, they differ in their philosophical assumptions as well as methods, values, and norms. At the intersection of research cultures and research practices, we analyse some phenomena of this variety with respect to their complexity and their boundary conditions.

The consolidation of the research on and the conceptual cultures of interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity is an important foundation for increasing the understanding of collaborative research practices and how they contribute to tackling societal challenges.¹ Knowledge cultures and practices of IDR/TDR therefore intersect and mutually influence each other.  

Within the project, our aim is to advance the methodological and conceptual approaches for investigating, practicing, and assessing IDR/TDR. This is to identify potentials of the integration of interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity into existing knowledge cultures and research practices, as well as their institutionalization in the larger scientific landscape.

Many governing, funding and assessment structures show the need for an improved dialogue between research and policy. This is especially the case when it comes to TDR that aims to address societal or scientific problems asking for a reflection and exchange of not only diverse disciplines and research fields but also societal stakeholders. Investigating the intersection of knowledge cultures and policy helps to understand existing gaps, collaborative bottlenecks, or dialogical needs.

How organizational and institutional policies influence knowledge cultures in their practices, but also in their philosophical assumptions, methods, values, and norms, in turn, is crucial to understand when it comes to the intersection of policy and culture. Focusing on IDR and TDR demands methods as well as governance and assessment processes that are designed in a way to allow for epistemic diversity and boundary crossing in collaborative research and innovation.

We aim to identify and contribute to policy, assessment and funding instruments that can support such participatory processes to encourage knowledge cultures to tackle complex problems collaboratively and from diverse perspectives. For example, this involves investigating regulation and standardisation processes dominant in institutional and organisational settings, that might hinder or support knowledge cultures to successfully conduct IDR/TDR.

Underlying values in collaborative research practices and their assessment– an empirical inquiry into resulting connections and disconnections

Doctoral candidate: Anne-Sophie Schaltegger

Timeframe: February 2022 – January 2026

Abstract: Inter- and transdisciplinary research are facing the paradox of being promoted for their transformative potential on the one hand, and facing a range of barriers on the other. One of those barriers is research assessment, which often does not account for the unique conditions and characteristics of inter- and transdisciplinary research. Assessments conducted by funders in the form of proposal evaluation and monitoring of running projects and their effects on inter- and transdisciplinary research practices are still poorly understood. Moreover, values play an important role in both research practices and research assessment, but again, empirical investigations into those values, their roles and how the values of research and its assessment relate to each other are scarce. Particularly, locally contextualised insights into the Swiss context are needed. My thesis will contribute to closing this gap by applying a qualitative, cultural approach based on grounded theory. The research questions guiding this study focus on the values involved in collaborative inter- and transdisciplinary research practices, the values involved in their assessment, as well as the intersections and disconnections between those two value landscapes. An initial literature review informs about the existing research on values in inter- and transdisciplinary research and its assessment. Via ethnographic research in relevant national research projects, values engaged in collaborative research practices in Switzerland will be investigated. These will be contrasted with a perspective on values engaged in related assessment situations through participant observation and semi-structured interviews and with individuals involved in and responsible for the assessment. A final synthesis including workshops for dissemination and discussion of findings with researchers, funders and experts in assessment panel will illuminate the intersections and disconnections between inter- and transdisciplinary research and its assessment, thus aiding in understanding how this intersection can be improved to foster these research mode’s potential from a perspective of values.

Doctoral Thesis: norms and governance in transdisciplinary research settings of emerging technologies

Doctoral candidate: Helena Winiger

Timeframe: September 2023 - August 2027

Abstract: The governance of technologies in society requires addressing complex problems rooted in technological advancement not only in the societal issues that follow, but also in their emergence. Inter- and transdisciplinary research is in high demand to address existing complex problems. Furthermore, the socio-technical innovation processes at the basis of existing and future problems are studied. But, despite existing policies, inter- and transdisciplinarity are not fully integrated into scientific practice. Besides, the societal governance of technologies is not yet responsive enough to address arising complex problems.

My doctoral project aims to study inter- and transdisciplinary research in domains involving emerging technologies. It focuses on the role of institutional norms and governance processes that are iterated in organizational practices and policies. A thorough understanding of such institutional norms aims to contribute to the co-production of participatory governance mechanisms for technology development and use by standardization or policy instruments. Furthermore, the outcome of this study will support an empirically grounded discussion and development of science policy and funding targeting inter- and transdisciplinary research related to emerging technologies in Switzerland and beyond.

In this study, qualitative methods are used. A literature review provides the position and framework of the study. It anchors the topic inter- and transdisciplinarily in the field of Science and Technology Studies. Interviews, focus groups, and multi-sited ethnographic research in Swiss research centers involving emerging technologies contribute empirically to the conceptual approach. Grounded theory guides the data analysis. Findings on institutional norms will feed into efforts towards participatory governance and responsible innovation, e.g., through tools to be applied in a transdisciplinary manner.