In the second phase of the centre, DLN 2.0, we are even more focused on encouraging and supporting transdisciplinary research. A key element of transdisciplinary work is engaging with non-academic stakeholders in the research itself and giving them an active role (not using them only as research subject or data sources). However, submissions for this award have predominantly been multi-, as well as interdisciplinary in nature. The candidates all represent research of high societal relevance – yet do not meet the criteria for transdisciplinary research, as described in the call criteria. We therefore urge you to revisit the white paper by Hesjedal & Strand (2021) for a more in-depth look at the hallmarks of transdisciplinary research .
Transdisciplinary research designs are demanding and time-consuming. Nevertheless, working with end-users, publics, NGOs, patients, governmental bodies, or other relevant stakeholders in conjunction with other scientific disciplines are forms of research that DLN is funded to realize by the Research Council of Norway. More importantly, transdisciplinary research opens for sustainable societal impact, higher innovation success rate and relevance for industry stakeholders for life science in Norway.
We acknowledge that scientific publications are a challenging format to capture a researcher’s or team’s transdisciplinary efforts, which are often demonstrated in other ways. In theory, the committee had hoped to identify scientific publications in any DLN-relevant topic that included a transdisciplinary approach. But in practice, transdisciplinarity may be more feasible to show in a publication for certain topics, for example public health, STS, or citizen science, compared to other topics, which may be more lab work or computationally heavy. During 2023, DLN will therefore re-evaluate the criteria for the transdisciplinary award to align better with the actual efforts that we know are made in the biotechnology and life science communities, but that are not easily included in a peer-reviewed scientific publication.
For future applicants of this award: We hope this provides some food for thought, inspires you to explore the concept of transdisciplinarity, and shape your future research efforts accordingly to showcase a truly transdisciplinary effort for the next award. Check back later this year for the 2023 call for a redesigned DLN transdisciplinary award. If you have further questions on transdisciplinarity or this assessment, feel free to reach out at contact@digitallifenorway.org.