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Quality dimensions of successful interdisciplinary research collaborations

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Sabine Hoidn at University of St.Gallen and University of Zurich
Sabine Hoidn
  • University of St.Gallen and University of Zurich
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Abstract

This presentation shares the findings of multiple case studies conducted in the United States examining the qualities of collaborative work of academics working together in interdisciplinary research groups are presented. It is suggested that the effective interdisciplinary integration of knowledge depends on the creation of a collectively constructed space in which academics interact socially, emotionally and cognitively to study a shared problem and advance productive insights through interdisciplinary exchange. A systematic understanding of the core mechanisms by which experts merge disciplinary traditions to tackle complex problems evolves around three quality dimensions of interdisciplinary collaboration: Intellectual dimension (e.g., the nature of the problem under study, the groups’ intellectual goals), interactional dimension (e.g., team composition like size, roles; team leadership, identity, team communication, working styles) and institutional dimension (e.g., funding, criteria used to monitor interdisciplinary work). A systematic understanding of these core mechanisms can help researchers and educators to move beyond over-specialization and engage in successful interdisciplinary work.
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© Dr. Sabine Hoidn, Universität St. Gallen
Quality dimensions of successful
interdisciplinary research collaborations
Philadelphia, August 02, 2014
Dr. Sabine Hoidn
Program session: Fostering International
Teaching and Research Collaborations
Session organizers: Charles Wankel and
Olivia del Roble Hernández-Pozas
1
Agenda
© Dr. Sabine Hoidn 2
! Empirical study: Multiple case study research of nine
research networks on successfull interdisciplinarity
! Shared socio-emotional-cognitive (SSEC) platform
for interdisciplinary collaboration
-> Quality dimensions
! Conclusions
! Empirical study of nine ID research networks in the US (case
study research)
! Focus on the perceptions and experiences of investigators/
researchers (N = 57)
! Collected data: Internet search, selected publications, ob-
servations, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews
© Dr. Sabine Hoidn 3
Multiple case study research of
research networks
© Dr. Sabine Hoidn 4
What constitutes «successful
interdisciplinary collaborations»?
Shared socio-emotional-cognitive (SSEC)
platforms for interdisciplinary collaboration
… understood as «a collectively constructed space in which
participating individuals engage socially, emotionally, and cog-
nitively to examine a relatively common problem of study and
advance productive insights through interdisciplinary exchange.»
(Boix Mansilla, Lamont & Sato, 2012, p. 5)
© Dr. Sabine Hoidn 5
Three quality dimensions of successful ID collaborations:
1. Intellectual dimension: cognitive substance of the work
(problem under study, meanings individuals attach)
2. Interactional dimension: participants’ socio-emotional
engagement with the shared project (ideas, participants)
3. Institutional dimension: larger context in which ID research
networks operate (resources, expectations)
© Dr. Sabine Hoidn 6
Facilitating factors
Participant qualities – cognitive and
social (expertise, open-mindedness,
interest)
Clear collective mission, sense of
mutual need of expertise and
commitment to shared agenda
Productive problem framing (different
expertise, optimally ambiguous and
intellectually engaging)
Establishment of common ground
(shared language, conceptual
framework, methodology)
Markers
Experts learn from other disci-
plines (their own work changes)
Further productive collaboration
(common ground)
Disciplinary excellence and
originality of ID leverage
Intellectual (cognitive) dimension
for successful ID collaborations
© Dr. Sabine Hoidn 7
Interactional dimension
for successful ID collaborations
Facilitating factors
Feelings of trust, respect, admiration
(identification); Feeling good about
onself contributing and being recog-
nized
Climate of conviviality, open exchange
and sense of possibility
Effective leadership
Participant qualities (sociability/
prestige/open-mindedness)
Strong interpersonal relations/
closeness
Boundary work and differentiation from
other groups/group identity
Markers
Joy of working together in ID
contexts
Collective intellectual excitement
Growing capacity for deliberation
and learning; capacity to interact
productively
Meaningful personal/intellectual
ties with peers
© Dr. Sabine Hoidn 8
Institutional dimension
for successful ID collaborations
Facilitating factors
Investment in big transformative questions;
Investing in people
Close and good relations with foundation; low
bureaucracy procedures; substance-driven loose
management
Open-ended outcomes (e.g., deliverables,
expectation of impact in policy)
-> have direct impact on the other two dimensions of SSEC platforms
! Framework with three dimensions constitutive of a
wide range of ID collaborations (empirical grounding)
! Intertwined dimensions that are mutually constitutive
! Importance of the interactional dimension (e.g., role of
emotions, identity)
© Dr. Sabine Hoidn 9
Conclusions:
ID success is multidimensional
Thank you very much for your attention!
Dr. Sabine Hoidn
University of St. Gallen
Switzerland
email: sabine_hoidn@mail.harvard.edu or
sabine.hoidn@unisg.ch
© Dr. Sabine Hoidn 10
References
Boix Mansilla, V. (in preparation). Shared cognitive-emotional-interactional platforms:
Markers and conditions for successful interdisciplinary collaborations.
Boix Mansilla, V., Lamont, M. & Sato, K. (2012). The contributions of shared socio-emotional-
cognitive platforms to interdisciplinary synthesis. Paper presented at 4S Annual Meeting
Vancouver, Canada, February 16-20, 2012.
Boix Mansilla, V., Sato, K., Chua, F., Hoidn, S., Ivanier, A. & Lamont, M. (2010). Building
socio-emotional-cognitive platforms for interdisciplinary research collaborations. Report
prepared for the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University (Project Zero).
Hoidn, S. (2010). Interdisciplinary research collaboration: Characteristics – impeding and
enabling factors – implications. In D. Haunreiter (Hrsg.), Kommunikation in Wirtschaft, Recht
und Gesellschaft (pp. 141-157). Bern: Stämpfli.
© Dr. Sabine Hoidn 11
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Shared Cognitive-Emotional-Interactional Platforms: Markers and Conditions for Successful Interdisciplinary Collaborations
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2015
Given the growing centrality of interdisciplinarity to scientific research, gaining a better understanding of successful interdisciplinary collaborations has become imperative. Drawing on extensive case studies of nine research networks in the social, natural, and computational sciences, we propose a construct that captures the multidimensional character of such collaborations, that of a shared cognitive–emotional–interactional (SCEI) platform. We demonstrate its value as an integrative lens to examine markers of and conditions for successful interdisciplinary collaborations as defined by researchers involved in these groups. We show that (1) markers and conditions embody three different dimensions: cognitive, emotional, and interactional; (2) these dimensions are present in all networks, albeit to different degrees; (3) the dimensions are intertwined and mutually constitutive; and (4) they operate in conjunction with institutional conditions created by funders. We compare the SCEI platforms to available frameworks for successful interdisciplinary work.
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Shared Socio-Emotional-Cognitive Platforms To Promote Interdisciplinary Synthesis
Conference Paper
Full-text available
  • Feb 2012
Available theories concerning interdisciplinary collaborations tend to focus heavily on either the cognitive, the social, or the institutional dimension of such interchange. We propose the theoretical construct of “shared socio-emotional-cognitive (SSEC) platforms” to capture what defines successful interdisciplinarity. The paper elaborates on this theoretical concept, which is informed by an extensive empirical study of nine research networks supported by three institutions: the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Sante Fe Institute. We also analyze the conditions that enable or impede individuals to conduct interdisciplinary research together successfully, focusing on intellectual, interactional and institutional conditions. We first review relevant literature on interdisciplinary collaborations, and then advance a definition of SSEC platforms, describing three key dimensions and the theoretical assumptions on which they stand. These dimensions are: the intellectual (most exclusively concerned with cognition); the emotional (concerned with reactions to individuals and ideas); and the interactional (concerned primarily with interaction, meaning-making, and group styles). These dimensions are also described as conditions enabling successful interdisciplinarity, along with institutional conditions for success, which concern the rules, practices and expectations of funding organizations and the academic fields. After showing that these dimensions and conditions are present in the nine groups studied, but in varying proportions, we conclude by comparing our construct with a well regarded models for understanding interdisciplinary exchange: the notion of “trading zones,” proposed by Peter Galison (1997) to specify our constructs’ usefulness and contribution to the field.
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Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations: Characteristics - impeding and enabling factors - implications
Chapter
Full-text available
  • Jan 2010
Research is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary due to the inherent complexity of the phenomena under study. Interdisciplinarity is "en vogue" - associated with creative, progressive scientific research likely to lead to applicable results. Complex problems cross the boundaries of traditional disciplines and thus, require individuals and groups to engage in interdisciplinary inquiry and collaboration to generate knowledge that is more than the sum of its parts. And while European scholars are working on mapping the contours of "the disciplines" in the course of the Bologna process to further brachiate the tree of knowledge, KLEIN states in her recent landmark book "Creating Interdisciplinary Campus Cultures" that the concept of "the disciplines" has increasingly taken on the stance of an "inconvenient fiction." After introducing the topic and its relevance, the chapter presents a definition of interdisciplinary research as well as selected characteristics of interdisciplinary research collaboration (section II). After that, impeding (obstacles) as well as on enabling factors regarding interdisciplinary research collaboration will be submitted (section III) and some implications will be outlined (section IV). Finally, ideas for (future) research on interdisciplinary research collaboration will be sketched out (section V).
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Technical Report
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The Successful Interdisciplinary Collaboration Project examines, through a multiple case study, the experiences of experts working in nine research groups of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Santa Fe Institute. Three questions guide our empirical examination, which correspond to three determinants of successful interdisciplinary: (1) Intellectual Dimension: How do members of the group define the cognitive/epistemic nature of their enterprise? What cognitive platforms for interdisciplinary integration do they create? (2) Interactional Dimension: How do participants experience the construction of their group membership and collective work styles? How do such work styles contribute or hinder the creation of common platforms of disciplinary integration? (3) Institutional Dimension: What role do foundations play to enable the functioning of interdisciplinary groups? What organizational structures promote the generation of new interdisciplinary inquiries?
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