EVALUATION OF INTER- AND TRANSDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

Date: 14-16 September 2011, Berne

Deadline for abstract submissions: closed
Letter of acceptance: 14 June

Please note that the submission of the abstract form does not make the submission of the registration form redundant. Each participant, with or without a paper, must register for the conference here.

For abstract submissions please use this word-file, fill in the information in the given format/fonts, and send it to M. Rossini (mail)

statements on the conference theme -

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

print version (pdf)

In contrast to most disciplinary research practices, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary projects are characterised by a variety of disciplines and various practitioners in professional fields outside academia. As a consequence, general evaluation methods that have been developed for disciplinary work can only be used to assess specific disciplinary contributions but are hence not appropriate for assessing specific inter- or transdisciplinary goals, processes and achievements. Major challenges for evaluators of inter- and transdisciplinarity include making decisions about which dimensions to select and possibly rank when judging the quality of a project – is it the ‘original’ contribution to a particular field, the potential for innovation, the quality of integration, the broader impact or rather the learning process itself, for example. In general, what is missing are established frames of reference and bench marks against which performance and outcomes are measured etc.

To map and examine these issues is a necessary first step for a systematic overview and critical review of the current methodologies as well as for setting an agenda for the evaluation of inter- and transdisciplinarity (ID and TD) as a tool for learning, improvement, innovation and excellence of this type of research.

We kindly ask you to submit proposals for either paper or workshop sessions:

Paper contributions can present practical experiences with evaluating inter- and transdisciplinary projects on any topic (including the evaluation of teaching and ID/TD activities in practice fields) or focus on more theoretical or methodological issues and ‘tool kits’ of evaluation. Please take into account that paper presentations should not last more than 15 minutes to allow for a discussion time of 15 minutes.

Workshop sessions should be interactive by testing, revising and elaborating on existing models of evaluation with the participants. To involve other researchers as early as possible and to allow for in-depth discussion and mutual learning, we suggest that workshop organisers and interested parties enter into dialogue before the conference already. You and/or your team can choose to either organise a workshop of
a) 2 hours or
b) half a day, but in any case you should also limit the presentation time to a minimum.

You might find the following overview of various evaluation practices and issues useful to get a sense of the variety of aspects we like to see addressed and to identify a focus for your own contribution to the conference theme: Julie Klein (2008), "Evaluation of Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research" pdf

All abstracts should be around 400 words and include a paragraph that explicitly addresses the specific contribution of the paper or workshop to the overall conference theme of evaluation in either research, practice or teaching. Please also add a short list of the relevant literature your intervention will draw on at the end of the abstract as well as 5 key words that represent your contribution so it can be classified with others in an appropriate session.

Whether you submit a paper or workshop proposal, please use this form and send it to Manuela Rossini (mail)

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