Graduate Workshop: Tools for Transdisciplinary Research Projects

In the framework of the Graduate Network African Studies

Graduate and post-graduate research projects regularly cross the boundaries of conventional disciplines and often involve various stakeholder groups outside of academia. In these situations, literature on inter- and transdisciplinary research is often consulted to come to terms with the resulting methodological and theoretical challenges. This body of literature, however, offers a wide range of diverse approaches that cannot be directly transferred and applied to individual projects.
 
This workshop is designed to support graduate students who consider integrating transdisciplinary approaches into their research projects. It will provide an introduction to the field of transdisciplinary research and will present tools to design and carry out cooperative knowledge production. Particular attention will be given to the specific challenges that are typically encountered in PhD projects. Graduate research projects of workshop participants will serve as case studies to practice the application of transdisciplinary research tools.

Structure of the Workshop

The workshop will begin with a keynote presentation and subsequent discussion. The first part will offer three further brief inputs by the speaker for further discussion in small groups. These inputs aim to introduce the td-net’s toolbox for co-producing knowledge. The second part will practice the application of the methods of this toolbox to graduate and postgraduate projects.

Schedule

09.15    Welcome address: Veit Arlt (Coordinator, Centre for African Studies, University of Basel)
09.30    Introduction: Alexandra Hofmänner (Science & Technology Studies, University of Basel)
09.45    Keynote: Gabriela Wuelser (Network for Transdisciplinary Research, Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences): Introduction to the Field of Transdisciplinary Research
10.30    Part I: Application of the TD-Toolbox (I)
12.00    Lunch Break
13.15    Part II: Application of the TD-Toolbox (II)
16:30    Closure
 
Readings

Pohl, Christian, Hirsch Hadorn, Gertrude (2007): Principles for designing transdisciplinary research. Proposed by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, pp. 15-50.

Pohl, Christian, Krütli, Pius and Stauffacher, Michael. 2017. Ten Reflective Steps for Rendering Research Societally Relevant. GAIA 26/1(2017), pp. 43 – 51.

KFPE Guide for Transboundary Research Partnerships: 11 principles & 7 questions https://naturalsciences.ch/organisations/kfpe/11_principles_7_questions

Network for Transdisciplinary Research (td-net), Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences http://www.transdisciplinarity.ch/en/td-net/Transdisziplinarit-t.html

Registration

Please register by Friday, 25 May 2018 (email to alexandra.hofmaenner@clutterunibas.ch) with a short 1-page description of your research project and your interest in the workshop. 

Date

Friday, 1 June 2018

Venue

Basler Afrika Bibliographien, Klosterberg 23, 4051 Basel

Download

Call document (pdf)

Conveners

Graduate Network African Studies, University of Basel

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