Practices of Collaborative Research and Innovation

Research and innovation have never been solitary efforts, but instead have long required complex constellations of actors and institutions to work together. In this sub-theme we examine how these collaborations are organized to produce and adapt research (“know-what”) and innovation (“know-how”). We define “research” broadly to encompass practices leading to new understanding, whether in science, engineering, or craft. Similarly, in this sub-theme we do not solely privilege commercially-valued technological innovation: we also look to practices that uncover what is already known (“exnovation”) and practices of social innovation, for instance in the use, care, adaptation, and maintenance of existing technologies. Still, novelty and innovation are important phenomena, so in this sub-theme we examine how different kinds of actors arrange themselves around new fields (“sociology of expectations”) and how new and emerging science and technology (NEST) is co-produced with shifts in values (“techno-moral change”).

Coordinator for this research theme: Cyrus Mody.