K267 - Roles of researchers in inter- and transdisciplinary projects: reflection workshop

Course description

Our workshop introduces teams of researchers in inter- and/or transdisciplinary (ITD) projects to different roles of researchers, such as traditional scientist, knowledge integrator, knowledge broker, and change agent. Applying a reflection tool developed by the ITD Research Group of Eawag (Hofmann et al., 2025), the workshop guides the research team members through the process of mapping, reflecting, and discussing their roles.

Course content

The course proceeds as follows:

(1) participants fill out a short survey that operationalizes six common roles in ITD research;

(2) based on the survey, participants map their scores for the six roles on a spider web;

(3) using guiding questions provided at the end of the survey, participants reflect individually on opportunities and challenges of their role profile;

(4) in breakout groups, participants present and compare their role profiles and jointly reflect on the opportunities and challenges they identified for their role profiles and jointly discuss coping strategies;

(5) in the plenum, the breakout group discussions are summarized and aggregated role profiles and common points are discussed more in depth against the backdrop of the overall project goals.

We recommend reserving time for a joint lunch or apéro before or after the workshop.
 

Objectives

Through structured individual reflections and group discussions, the course will support research team members to:
• become familiar with the reflection tool through theoretical introduction and own practical application
• reflect on their own roles in the specific ITD research project as well as on related opportunities, challenges, and coping strategies
• discuss their roles and jointly reflect on the match of their aggregated role profiles with the overarching ITD project goals and on the way forward.

Target audience

Research teams that work on an inter- and/or transdisciplinary (ITD) project at Eawag, Empa, PSI and WSL.

They can be at the very beginning of the project or already working on it for some time.

 

Prerequisites

In-person workshop offered on demand for research project teams at Eawag, Dübendorf. One-time workshop or series of workshops during different project phases, depending on the needs of the project team.

Proof of performance

None

Completion

Certificate of completion 

Duration

1.5 hours + optional lunch (at participant's expense)

Course fees

Lead campus training courses are financed by the course fees. Each institute decides individually whether to pass on the course costs or have them covered centrally.

Course instructor

Dr. Sabine Hoffmann, Dr. Benjamin Hofmann, Hanna Salomon

Further reading

Hofmann B, Salomon H, Hoffmann S (2025) Roles of researchers in inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability research: a reflection tool. Sustain Sci. doi:10.1007/s11625-024-01619-x

Further information

If you have any questions, please contact the lead campus office:
+41 56 310 24 00 or mail to office@lead-campus.ch

Veranstaltungsdaten

Für diesen Kurs sind derzeit keine Termine verfügbar. Fragen Sie an unter bildungszentrum@psi.ch.