Bridges to Somewhere: Building Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations

1. Bridges to Somewhere: Building Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

2. Aim/Direction • To identify and discuss the challenges of collaborating across disciplines and faculties Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

3. Relevance of Interdisciplinary Research Strategic Plan • encouragement of, ‘cross-disciplinary teams to enhance the applicability and relevance of research to professional practice’ and to ‘use our intellectual and interdisciplinary capability, flexibility and pragmatism’ to establish partnerships Strategic Directions for the Next Decade • goals of becoming a preferred industry partner through intellectual and interdisciplinary capability, flexibility and innovation Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

4. Study of Interdisciplinary Groups Interorg networks Research Design Interdisciplinary Research Research Design Current Interests Sociotechnical Change Quality of Experience Sociotechnical Change Group Current Projects Current and Recent Work Mobile technology Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

5. …disciplinarity… • Discipline: specialisation in isolation • Multidisciplinarity • Pluridisciplinarity • Interdisciplinarity • Transdisciplinarity • Max-Neef (2005) Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

6. …disciplinarity… • Value: What we must do or how to do what we want to do • Normative: What we want to do • Pragmatic: What we are capable of doing • Empirical: What exists Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

7. Overview of Case Studies • Building a Multidisciplinary Group Using SSM • Designing a Movement-Based Interactive Experience Using Empirically Derived Personas and Scenarios (DICE) • Challenging Collaborations: Understanding and Facilitating Inter-Organisational Networks (KITE) Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

8. Building a Multidisciplinary Group • Aim: To build a multidisciplinary research group investigating sociotechnical change. • Half a dozen researchers (Engineering, IT, IICT) from various backgrounds • Hired a postdoc to be the glue… Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

9. Planning projects Doing projects Initiating Supporting Regular meetings Interim decision taker(s) Driving Updating/Advising Reassessing Measuring outputs Evaluating outputs Active members Inactive members Possible future members What developed… Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

10. Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

11. Issues • Separations between social and technical are not intrinsic and have been created to achieve certain purposes such as making one type of information, say, technical information more important than, say, social information Latour (1987) • Achieving balance, engagement, cooperation, communication, group learning, leadership Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

12. DICE: Designing a Movement-Based Interactive Experience Using Empirically Derived Personas and Scenarios ObservationsPersona and Scenario developmentPresentation to design team Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

13. Issues • Artists were interested but did not utilise the findings… • Did not fit with original concepts • Continued with original ideas • Continued conflict in perspectives and some frustrating iterations • Challenges in maintaining positive relationships Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

14. Challenging Collaborations: Understanding and Facilitating Inter organisational Networks (KITE) • Formation of the group • Building understandings • The project-Employment network • Industry partner Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

15. Issues • Teaching load • Funding across faculties • Organisational politics eg. Belonging to a cross faculty group • Understanding others research approaches Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

16. Challenges of cross-faculty collaboration • Funding- faculty based, administration • Time- workload, timetabling, priorities • Physical location- separate faculties, limited informal networking opportunities • Training-in research approaches predominantly faculty based • Leadership-perceived lack of leadership and support for interdisciplinary/ cross faculty groups and projects Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

17. Future Challenges • Providing a curriculum that balances disciplinary excellence with the ability to apply knowledge in a more holistic and situated way • Providing learning opportunities for future researchers in a more integrated environment eg. Opportunities for PhD students to engage with researchers across faculties more easily • Implementing organisational changes to facilitate transdisciplinary research Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

18. Challenges for research students • A culture not encouraging research students to ask questions of staff from other faculties • Limited or non-existent contact with research students outside own faculty- lack of perceived similarities • A need for more interaction outside the faculty according to the direction of the research Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney

19. Interdisciplinary work, so much discussed these days, is not about confronting already constituted disciplines (none of which, in fact, is willing to let itself go). To do something interdisciplinary it’s not enough to choose a “subject” (a theme) and gather around it two or three sciences. Interdisciplinarity consists in creating a new object that belongs to no one. Roland Barthes, “Jeunes Chercheurs” Melanie Kan 2005 University of Technology, Sydney