ARINA PhD course: Transdisciplinarity, RRI and Radical Innovation

Starting from participants’ own research projects, the course discusses the governance of technoscience, tensions between responsibility and innovation, and the practical challenges of collaboration between academia, industry, government and civil society. 

Through interactive lectures, group work and individual reflections, participants will map the actor networks of their own projects, discuss notions of innovation, ethical and social responsibility, and the role of inter- and transdisciplinarity. 

The course combines a 2-hour digital pre-meeting (6th March), a one-week PhD course in Bergen, and a final assignment.

Who is the course for?

Priority is given to PhD candidates on projects under the RCN Technology Convergence portfolio (TEKNOKONVERGENS). 

Other PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers in TEKNOKONVERGENS
projects are also welcome. No need for previous knowledge on RRI or transdisciplinarity; we will start with participants’ experiences with their own projects.

Programme

Digital pre-meeting Thursday 6 March

• Time: 10:00-12:00
• Place: Online

Before the meeting, participants send around a 1-2 page text where they describe their project and identify where innovation sits in their project (in processes, new technology, methods, partnerships, etc.). Then, they mention 2-3 tensions that they currently experience in their project (time, measurable outcomes, guidelines, collaboration (within and outside their project), supervision…)

During the pre-meeting:

• Welcome, introduce ARINA, the course and expectations
• Begin from the participants’ texts on projects and experiences. Round of project introductions and stories of innovation, responsibility and tensions
• Introduction to some concepts: what is actually innovation? Responsibility?Transdisciplinarity? How are these linked?

Monday 23rd March

Venue: Undervisningsrom 129, Sydnesplassen 12-13

12:00-13:00 Lunch and welcome
13:00-15:00 Why govern science and innovation? Setting the scene

Tuesday 24th March

Venue: Undervisningsrom 129, Sydnesplassen 12-13

09:00-12:00 Wicked, real-world problems
12:00-13:00 Lunch
13:00-15:00 Transdisciplinarity: definition, practice and challenges

Wednesday 25th March

Venue: Seminarrom N, Sydneshaugen skole (Sydnesplassen 9, 2nd floor)

09:00-12:00 RRI: frameworks, opportunities and tensions
12:00-13:00 Lunch
13:00-15:00 Continuing the morning session

Thursday 26th March

Venue: Aktiv 2, Ulrike Pihls hus (Professor Keysers gt. 1)

09:00-12:00 Innovation theory/radical innovation
12:00-13:00 Lunch
13:00-15:00 Innovation theory/radical innovation + participants finalise their
project maps

Friday 27th March 

Venue: Aktiv 2, Ulrike Pihls hus (Professor Keysers gt. 1)

09:00-12:00 Participants’ presentations and final reflections. Course ends at 12:00.

Assignment

(1) A actors’ network project map

Participants will draw a map of their project, visualising the actors, knowledges, institutions, tensions,
collaborations, etc. The map should show:

• Where is innovation: outcomes, promises, risks, who benefits / who is disadvantaged…
• Where is transdisciplinarity (if at all present?): collaborations, different knowledges, actors, values,
  agendas
• Where is RRI: anticipation, reflexivity, engagement, responsiveness, preparedness

(2) An essay based on the map (ca. 3000 words), where the participant discusses:

• 2-3 key tensions related to RRI in their project
  Where these tensions are situated (definitions, temporalities, evaluation, institutions, etc.);
  How transdisciplinarity might reframe or help navigate these tensions (what collaborations might be
  needed)

Evaluation: pass/fail, based on:

- Mandatory preparation work
- Attendance and active participation in digital pre-meeting and PhD course
- Quality of the map (clarity, comprehensiveness, reflexivity)
- Quality of the essay, in particular the ability to (i) articulate course concepts and project experience;
and (ii) make tensions visible

Learning outcomes

Upon completing this course, the candidate should:

Knowledge

• Explain core concepts of RRI, transdisciplinarity and innovation theory, and understand how they
  relate to each other
  Identify ethical, social and epistemic tensions that arise in convergence-oriented research and
  innovation projects
  Understand how care and alternative framings of innovation can inform responsible research and
  innovation practices

Skills

• Analyse one’s own research project using concepts from RRI, transdisciplinarity and innovation
  theory
  Map relevant actors, knowledges and institutions in a project, and identify where tensions,
  collaborations, uncertainties and value conflicts are located
   

General competence

• Reflect critically one’s own role and responsibilities in complex transdisciplinary innovation settings