Model 6
After S. Hoffmann et al.1
This model draws on a conference workshop and literature review of inter- and transdisciplinarity (ITD), Science of Team Science (SciTS), and Science and Technology Studies (STS). It distinguishes between nine complementary roles played by ‘knowledge integrators’. The roles position scientists with respect to their understanding of how to include different perspectives from science and other societal fields of action. The article also discusses researchers’ motivations to play these roles and explicitly pleads for a professionalisation of roles to be able to support the careers of researchers who do not work in clear disciplinary silos:
Role of scientist | What does the scientist do in this role? |
|---|---|
Bridge builder | Brings different people together, establishes relations with, and builds bridges among them |
Boundary crosser | Navigates social boundaries and successfully embeds within social groups that embody different perspectives to be integrated |
Translator | Discusses, reflects on, and translates different perspectives and asks pertinent questions to render uncertainties and assumptions underlying such perspectives explicit |
Catalyst | Identifies potential tensions between different perspectives, leverages potential synergies between them, and generates new knowledge by recognising critical connections |
Facilitator | Designs, plans, implements, and facilitates integrative processes, assigns roles and responsibilities, and supports generation of integrated outputs |
Contributor | Provides own intellectual contributions to scholarship by, for instance, linking theoretical concepts, co-creating integrative frameworks, or developing interdisciplinary methods |
Mediator | Recognises power imbalances and interpersonal conflicts within and between different social groups and deals with the implications as transparently, methodically, and consciously as possible |
Advisor | Provides opportunities for learning, practicing, and teaching integration as well as accompanies, supports, or coaches others in leading integrative processes and reaching integrated outputs |
| Evaluator | Monitors, assesses, and evaluates integrative processes and their integrated outputs |
