Res Publica

Research projects

Responsibility, practice and the public good across Digital Life.

Highlights 2021

During 2021, our research focused on questions of digital data, the commons, and democratic governance. We did research on health data and the public good, the politics of bioprospecting, and governance of digital contact tracing apps. As the project is in its concluding year, a highlight was to see that our work resulted in many publications.

We would like to highlight two main outputs: the book “Questing Excellence in Academia” published by Routledge, and two articles in a special issue on digital sovereignty in Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift. Transdisciplinarity means to contribute to and to draw on experience-based knowledge, and to involve relevant societal actors.

In the last year, Res Publica participated in the network project’s seminar series at the Literature house in Trondheim. The aim of these public debates was to engage actors from politics and industry, as well as a wider public, in topics that are relevant from an RRI-perspective. Res Publica also substantially contributed to improving DLN’s transdisciplinarity efforts presented in the White Paper on Transdisciplinarity.

Scientific publications 2021: 6

Project overview

Project lead: Heidrun Åm
Institution: NTNU
Partners: UiB, UiO, Maastricht University, University of Edinburgh School of Social and Political Science, University of Vienna, University of Amsterdam
Duration: Start-up 2017

Hesjedal, Maria Bårdsen & Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2025). Relying on Relays: A Socio-technical Integration Model for Interdisciplinary Research | Science & Technology Studies. Science & Technology Studies. doi: 10.23987/sts.156993. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This article proposes a theoretical model for practices of integrating knowledge across disciplines. We characterise it by the sports metaphor of a relay, to highlight the directional interactions that occur in interdisciplinary work when it is organised as a series of exchanges of materials, data, calculations, and models. Drawing on existing research to outline its main features, we develop the model using interviews with and observations of scientists in three biotechnology projects. The article analyses how scientists describe and practice interdisciplinarity, examining the underlying moral economy and their efforts at integration. The sequential exchanges between laps of disciplinary work form the core of the interdisciplinary epistemic machinery in each of the analysed projects. Achieving integration requires alignment through infrastructuring, calibration, and articulation work. The relay model describes a particular socio-material practice of interdisciplinarity. We conclude by discussing its potential and limitations.
Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2022). Nytenkning og nyskaping.Samfunnsendring gjennom forskning og innovasjon. In Frønes, Ivar & Kjølsrød, Lise (Ed.), Det norske samfunn : bind 2. Gyldendal Akademisk. ISSN 9788205572300. p. 156–178. Full text in Research Archive
Hesjedal, Maria Bårdsen & Åm, Heidrun (2022). Making sense of transdisciplinarity: Interpreting science policy in a biotechnology centre. Science and Public Policy. ISSN 0302-3427. 50(2), p. 219–229. doi: 10.1093/scipol/scac055. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Transdisciplinarity is a much-used concept in research policy to emphasize a need for new collaborations beyond scientific disciplines to solve societal challenges. However, how do scientists interpret transdisciplinarity and what do transdisciplinarity policies mean for their work? This paper focuses on researchers’ definitions of transdisciplinarity. It is based on an empirical study of a Norwegian biotechnology centre founded to stimulate a transition in biotechnology research towards transdisciplinarity. Drawing on interpretive methods, we identify three interpretations of transdisciplinarity. In our case, the science policy idea of ‘transdisciplinarity’ faded away in practice in terms of collaboration with non-academic actors, but boosted the establishment of new interdisciplinary teams. By pointing to the multiplicity of ways in which policy recipients can interpret science policy, this study contributes to scholarship analysing the relation between transdisciplinarity in policy and practic.
Metzler, Ingrid & Åm, Heidrun (2022). How the governance of and through digital contact tracing technologies shapes geographies of power. Policy & Politics. ISSN 0305-5736. 50(2), p. 181–198. doi: 10.1332/030557321x16420096592965. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this article, we use the COVID-19 pandemic to study governance through digital technologies. We investigate ‘digital contact tracing’ (DCT) apps developed in Austria and Norway and find their emergence, contestation and stabilisation as moments in which norms and values are puzzled through, and distributions of power change. We show that debates on DCT apps involved disputes on ‘digital citizenship’, that is, on the scope and nature of data that authorities are allowed to collect from citizens. Remarkably, these disputes were settled through the enrolment of a framework developed jointly by Apple and Google. Software became akin to a constitution that enshrined understandings of good citizenship into technological design, while also being a means through which geographies of power materialised. This article contributes to literature on technological governance by showing how the rising salience of technologies in governance transform political geographies and, as a consequence, democratic lives.
Åm, Heidrun (2022). Oppdrettslaks i medvind og motvind. In Finstad, Terje; Kvaal, Stig; Stokland, Håkon B. & Østby, Per (Ed.), Matens meglere. Kontroll, kvalitet og kunnskap i den industrielle matens tid. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202652333. p. 269–293. doi: 10.23865/noasp.155.ch10. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This chapter is about the complex relations and techno-scientific work invested in the salmon fillet at our dinner table. It shows a dynamic of continuous destabilization and stabilization efforts accompanying the relatively new creation of farmed salmon. Technology and scientific knowledge make mass-produced farmed salmon possible. At the same time, new developments come along with side effects that continuously threaten to destabilize the salmon’s identity as a healthy source of protein. Therefore, new technology and knowledge are constantly being introduced in the stabilization work to maintain the salmon-like characteristics of the salmon. Political management and brokers, such as the Scientific Committee for Food Safety (VKM), are important players in this stabilization work, in the same way that scientific knowledge of nutritional content and technology, such as biotechnology, are
Solbu, Gisle (2021). Frictions in the bioeconomy? A case study of policy translations and innovation practices. Science and Public Policy. ISSN 0302-3427. 48(6), p. 911–920. doi: 10.1093/scipol/scab068. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Building on a case study of a strategic funding initiative for biotechnology research and innovation, the paper analyses how policy objectives concerning innovation and value creation are responded to within the practices of researchers and governance actors. The paper employs an analytical perspective that centres on the interrelation between policy articulations and actors’ daily work practices and provides a novel study of how innovation demands are negotiated and made sense of within the context of three different empirical sites: national policy and science governance, intermediary science governance, and research practices. The paper addresses a problematic ‘hopeful’ mode of governance in today’s policy that is based on the idea of filling innovation deficits in current practices. As an alternative to this mode, the paper argues for the need for a more empathetic and practice-oriented policy discourse on innovation and value creation.
Åm, Heidrun (2021). A critical policy study on why introducing resource rent taxation in Norwegian salmon aquaculture failed. Marine Policy. ISSN 0308-597X. 131. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104692. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In Norway, the world’s leader in salmon farming, the aquaculture industry has become a profitable business. Drawing on critical policy studies, this paper analyzes a recent proposal to introduce resource rent taxation on salmon aquaculture for distributing its superprofit for the public good. By mapping actors and positions in the debate, the paper sheds light on the social reasons that led to the proposal’s rejection. It is argued that three positions emerged. The positions differ along two axes: rent and which community would benefit. The first position argues that aquaculture profits derive from natural resources and belong to local communities and to the national community. The second position denies that these superprofits can be categorized as rent and highlights issues of competitiveness. The third position seeks to distribute revenues locally as compensation for facilitating aquaculture. Although the debate about resource rent taxation was launched to debate the public-private issue, it turned into a fundamental disagreement about who should receive rents between the coastal municipalities and the state. The privatization of extraordinary revenue from common natural resources was no longer the focus.
Delgado, Ana & Åm, Heidrun (2021). Biologisk mangfold og selvråderett - hvorfor digitale genetiske data ikke er "den nye oljen". Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift (NNT). ISSN 0800-336X. 38(01-02), p. 45–57. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-3053-2021-01-02-05. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Offentlige strategiske dokumenter påstår at genetiske data har et stort økonomisk potensial for en fremtidig norsk bioøkonomi. De fremstiller data, og spesielt genetiske data, som en vei ut av oljeøkonomien. Denne artikkelen viser hvordan biologisk mangfold blir omgjort til en dataressurs, og hvordan nye forskningspraksiser og formål om deling av data gjør biodata til noe helt annet enn olje. Vi drøfter hvordan dette representerer mulige utfordringer for politisk styring, spesielt når det kommer til selvråderett.
Åm, Heidrun; Frøyhaug, Marte & Tøndel, Gunhild (2021). Helsedata som gullgruve? Forventninger til kommersialisering av helsedata i Norge. Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift (NNT). ISSN 0800-336X. 38(1-2), p. 86–98. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-3053-2021-01-02-08. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Bedre utnyttelse av helsedata er et mål i mange nordiske land. Ifølge Tupasela, Snell og Tarkkala (2020) innebærer «den nordiske dataforestillingen» utnyttelse av helsedata til økonomiske og kommersielle formål. Vi undersøker om dette også er tilfelle i Norge, ved analyse av en utredning for en digital nasjonal plattform for registerdata. Vi finner at forestillingen ikke er like framtredende her. Plattformen handler primært om forskning, men vi identifiserer et spenningsforhold mellom kommersialisering og fellesskapsprinsippet.
Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2021). STS as a Lens to Study Disciplines and Interdisciplinarity. A Comment on Sharon Traweek’s ‘I Prefer the Map'. Engaging Science, Technology, and Society. 7(2), p. 88–96. doi: 10.17351/ests2021.857. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In the 2020 Prague Virtual Conference of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), Sharon Traweek was awarded the society’s John D. Bernal Prize jointly with Langdon Winner. The Bernal Prize is awarded annually to individuals who have made distinguished contributions to the field of STS. Prize recipients include founders of the field of STS, along with outstanding scholars who have devoted their careers to the understanding of the social dimensions of science and technology. In this essay responding to Traweek's Bernal lecture, Sørensen draws on her critical understanding of academic disciplines to discuss how STS may develop the field’s understanding of disciplines, interdisciplinarity, and itself.
Hesjedal, Maria Bårdsen; Åm, Heidrun; Sørensen, Knut Holtan & Strand, Roger (2020). Transforming Scientists’ Understanding of Science–Society Relations. Stimulating Double‑Loop Learning when Teaching RRI. Science and Engineering Ethics. ISSN 1353-3452. 26, p. 1633–1653. doi: 10.1007/s11948-020-00208-2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The problem of developing research and innovation in accordance with society’s general needs and values has received increasing attention in research policy. In the last 7 years, the concept of “Responsible Research and Innovation” (RRI) has gained prominence in this regard, along with the resulting question of how best to integrate awareness about science–society relations into daily practices in research and higher education. In this context, post-graduate training has been seen as a promising entrance point, but tool-kit approaches more frequently have been used. In this paper, we present and analyze an experiment—in the format of a Ph.D. course for early-career researchers—deploying an alternative approach. Drawing on Argyris and Schön’s (1974) framing of reflective practice, and their distinctions between espoused theories and theories-in-use, the analyzed course endeavored to stimulate double-loop learning. Focusing on dislocatory moments, this paper analyses how the course tried to teach participants to reflect upon their own practices, values, and ontologies, and whether this provided them with the resources necessary to reflect on their theories-in-use in their daily practices.
Åm, Heidrun; Solbu, Gisle & Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2020). The imagined scientist of science governance. Social Studies of Science. ISSN 0306-3127. doi: 10.1177/0306312720962573. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In this article, we introduce the concept of ‘the imagined scientist’. It inverts previous discussions of the public as an imagined community with a knowledge deficit, to examine imagined scientists representing an actor (or group of actors) with deficits in knowledge or concern about social issues. We study how Norwegian science policymakers, on the one hand, and biotechnologists and nanotechnologists, on the other, articulate and engage with social responsibility. The article identifies what we call ‘deficit trouble’, when there is poor alignment of the deficits of different imagined scientists, which may lead to a stalemate in the communication between science policymakers and scientists. We argue that ‘the imagined scientist’ can function as sensitizing concept for further studies of science governance across a range of topics, bringing into view how different deficit logics operate in science policy
Solbu, Gisle & Akbarzadeh, Anita (2020). Make your own DLN Reading Club. Digital Life Norway Blog. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2019). Limits of decentered governance in science-society policies. Journal of Responsible Innovation. ISSN 2329-9460. 6(2), p. 163–178. doi: 10.1080/23299460.2019.1605483. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This article addresses the practices of implementing science policies that involve science-society relations, such as funding policies on ethical, legal, and social aspects (ELSA) and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). I examine how R&D actors translate such science governance. In particular, the paper focuses on possible tensions when scientists juggle competing policy demands. The paper draws mainly on interviews with scientists within biotechnology and nanotechnology in Norway. It shows that scientists try to accommodate rather than enact ELSA and RRI. They employ coping strategies of ‘following rules’, ‘dismissing’, and ‘contesting through talking the talk’. Thus, science-society policies fail to enter as a counter-logic to the hegemonic public management governing regime. The main argument is that RRI does not take hold because of a failure of meta-governance. Successful science-society policies should not focus only on encouraging scientists to adopt responsible behaviors, but on creating possible conditions for new practices.
Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2019). "Mas, mas, mas - over hele linja". In Tjora, Aksel (Eds.), Universitetskamp. Scandinavian Academic Press. ISSN 9788230402474. p. 448–481. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Store endringer preger universitets- og høyskolesektoren i hele den vestlige verden. Også de norske institusjonene har opplevd betydelige reformer, blant annet knyttet til fusjoner og andre strukturendringer, profesjonalisering av ledelse og administrasjon, samt økt bruk av målstyring. Mange av endringene skaper bekymringer og motstand fra mange av sektorens ansatte, som brenner for sin forskning, for sine studenter, for sine kolleger og sin disiplin, for sitt arbeid og sine ideer, og for troen på at arbeidet bidrar positivt til kunnskap som kommer hele samfunnet til gode. Det er ikke en endringsfrykt som sådan, men en bekymring for at den nye virkeligheten vil kunne redusere sektorens egenart og rolle som samfunnsinstitusjon. I denne boka analyseres slike endringer ved bruk av ulike perspektiver, teorier og erfaringer. Forfatterne har et ønske om å utvikle kritiske innspill og legge grunnlaget for en mer velinformert og perspektivrik diskusjon av endringer i sektoren og dens samfunnsrolle. Et underliggende spørsmål dreier seg om de siste tiders reformer synes å kunne ødelegge universiteters og høyskolers mulighet til å bidra med solid og samfunnsrelevant utdanning, forskning, formidling og innovasjon. Boka vil være av interesse både for forskere, studenter, politikere og andre med interesse for sektorens utvikling. Håpet er at antologiens kapitler kan bidra til en kritisk refleksjon om endringer som vi også ser i samfunnet mer generelt.
Delgado, Ana & Åm, Heidrun (2018). Experiments in interdisciplinarity: Responsible research and innovation and the public good. PLoS Biology. ISSN 1544-9173. 16:e2003921(3), p. 1–8. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2003921. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In Europe, responsible research and innovation (RRI) has emerged as a science policy measure that demands the early integration of a broad range of social actors and perspectives into research and development (R&D). More collaboration of the social sciences and humanities (SSH) with science and engineering appears within this policy framework as a crucial element that will enable better technological development. However, RRI is new to both natural scientists and SSH scholars, and interdisciplinary collaborations are challenging for many reasons. In this paper, we discuss these challenges while suggesting that what RRI can be in a particular project is not a given but remains an empirical question. Natural scientists and SSH scholars need to coresearch RRI in an experimental mode.

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Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2022). 'Excellence' og nyliberale kunnskapspoliitikker: Trussel mot akademisk autonomi, kollegialitet og akademisk medborgerskap. Full text in Research Archive
Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2022). Fra vitenskapsstudier til studier av universiteter: Kontekst og kultur. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2022). RRI as ambiguous tool to reform university research. Full text in Research Archive
Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2022). The black-boxing of universities and their role in science-society relations. Full text in Research Archive
Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2022). The black-boxing of universities and their role in science-society relations. Full text in Research Archive
Solbu, Gisle (2021). An introduction to Responsible Research and Innovation. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun & Metzler, Ingrid (2021). Technological democracy in the making? A comparison of debates on digital contact tracing apps in Norway and Austria. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2021). Forestillinger om forskere i forskningspolitikk og -praksis: Forskjellige logikker i spill. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun; Fuglestad, Eirik Magnus & Vik, Jostein (2021). Grunnrentelandet. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2021). Helsedata som gullgruve. [Radio]. P2. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun & Frøyhaug, Marte (2021). Dokumenter som kvalitative primærdata. Full text in Research Archive
Solbu, Gisle (2020). Responsible Research and Innovation in the context of Digital Life Norway. Full text in Research Archive
Solbu, Gisle (2020). Who carries the burden of translation labour in antimicrobial research and policy? Full text in Research Archive
Delgado, Ana (2020). On Arctic Microbes and Augmented Promise: The Digital Turn in Bioprospecting. Full text in Research Archive
Delgado, Ana (2020). In the Biodiscovery Pipeline: On Promising Microbes, Rare Environments and Icy Frontiers. Full text in Research Archive
Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2020). Academic citizenship, the management of excellence, and the neo-liberal universities. Full text in Research Archive
Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2020). Telle eller tenke – om publiseringspresset på regnearkuniversitetet. Full text in Research Archive
Solbu, Gisle (2020). Antibiotikautfordringen trenger tverrfaglig problemsløsning. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2020). The Norwegian debate on tax on rent in salmon farming. A pragmatist policy analysis of an attempt of re-politicizing salmon governance. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2020). Exploring choreographies of responsibilities: Biotechnology research, farmed salmon, and public issues. Full text in Research Archive
Delgado, Ana (2019). Res Publica: Responsibility, practice and the public good across Digital Life Norway. Full text in Research Archive
Delgado, Ana & Aasheim, Sissel Småland (2019). Res Publica project poster. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2019). Doing RRI in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2019). Which Common Good Do We Talk About? Digital Life Norway and Value Creation. Full text in Research Archive
Solbu, Gisle & Åm, Heidrun (2019). How many jobs has your research created? Constructing Value From Norwegian Biotechnology Research. Full text in Research Archive
Delgado, Ana (2019). Bioprospecting for new antibiotic compounds and the promissory nature of in- frastructures. Full text in Research Archive
Delgado, Ana (2019). The public life of microbes. The case of bioprospecting in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
Delgado, Ana (2019). Bioprospecting in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol: From Physical Samples to Digital Collections”. Full text in Research Archive
Delgado, Ana (2019). Bioprospecting for antibiotic compounds and the promissory nature of infrastructures. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2019). Politics instead of ethics: Which room for transformative science policy interventions in research practice? Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun & Åm, Trond Grønli (2018). Forskningsetikk: Mindre press framfor flere krav. www.universitetsavisa.no. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun; Solbu, Gisle & Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2018). Tensions in research governance: Science policy, public concerns, and research practices. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2018). Hvordan integrere RRI i forskningspraksis? Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2018). A plan for teaching RRI. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun & Åm, Trond Grønli (2018). Tappet for energi. www.universitetsavisa.no. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Trond Grønli & Åm, Heidrun (2018). Ny vår for humanistene. www.universitetsavisa.no. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2018). The republic of ELSA and RRI. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2018). STS and democratization of science-society-relations. Full text in Research Archive
Solbu, Gisle (2018). A case study of AMR research in Norway - AMR and Innovation. Full text in Research Archive
Solbu, Gisle (2018). AMR and the bioeconomy - a case study of AMR research in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
Solbu, Gisle; Åm, Heidrun & Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2018). AMR and the Bioeconomy. Full text in Research Archive
Solbu, Gisle & Sørensen, Knut Holtan (2018). Auspicious, Anxious or Ambiguous Enactments? Studying the Socialisation of NET through News Media. Full text in Research Archive
Åm, Heidrun (2018). VESTFRONTMØTET: Vil du oppgradere til kroppen 2.0? [Radio]. Panelsamtale under Olavsfestdagene, overført på NRK P2. Full text in Research Archive
Normannsen, Sølvi Waterloo; Åm, Heidrun & Brautaset, Trygve (2017). Ansvarlig forskning i bioteknologi: Heidrun Åm får 10 mill. for å forske på om biotekforskning kommer samfunnet til gode. [Internet]. Universitetsavisa. Full text in Research Archive

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Research group

Ana Delgado
Associate Professor

University of Oslo

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Anne Bremer
Researcher

University of Bergen

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Gisle Solbu
Postdoctoral researcher

NTNU

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Knut H. Sørensen
Professor

NTNU

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Project lead: Heidrun Åm
Associate professor

NTNU

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Roger Strand
Professor

University of Bergen

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Sissel Småland Aasheim
Phd Candidate

University of Bergen

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This project represents a strengthening and extension of the research and work to establish a novel platform for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in the Center for Digital Life Norway (DLN). DNL was established in February 2016 and aims at creating a strong and coherent national platform for transdisciplinary and digitalized biotechnology. All activities within DLN are supposed to be underpinned by the principle and practice of RRI.

This research project aims to improve RRI activities across DLN and its research projects by addressing RRI in terms of res publica (i.e. common good and public concerns) and by situating RRI also in the socio-political-economic context pertinent to DLN. With a departure point in DLN, we investigate how RRI can be integrated in three domains of practices: 1) scientific practices, mediation and evaluation, 2) innovation practices, and 3) policy and institutional practices.

Based on previous research and on experiences from working with DLN, we know that translating RRI into appropriate practices is more demanding than anticipated in mainstream RRI scholarship and policies. In action research, we will together with DLN's scientists elaborate how RRI can be shaped and implemented under the conditions they work in and look for alternative designs for distributing collective responsibilities.

The project will be a significant contribution to international Research on RRI in three ways. First, it takes RRI theory further by introducing practice theory as an approach to study the formation of public concerns as well as to identify the kind of situations where RRI resonates with ongoing research practices. This may make RRI easier to implement. Second, the use of a practice perspective extends the scope of potential RRI interventions to become multi-sited, going beyond academia. Third, our research will introduce action research methods to engage DLN and related actors in a learning process.

Latest news from the project

What next, DLN? June 7, 2019 10:04 AM