Agenda

26 Sep 2017 11:15

Interdisciplinary research in Europe and Italy: problems and perspectives

Aula Magna Silvio Trentin - Ca' Dolfin Dorsoduro 3859/A // Aula Baratto Ca’ Foscari, Dorsoduro 3246


The Ca' Foscari University of Venice has recently promoted the creation of a number of interdisciplinary research groups, whose participants have agreed on working together on common projects in order to face current and future global challenges. The main goals of such research teams are to boost the scientific capacities of their members, to develop international partnerships, and to increase the success rate of applications for competitive research programmes.

All Ca' Foscari teams are strongly committed to promote an interdisciplinary approach to research. In doing so, they acknowledge that interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity are being encouraged in the current international discourse on science policy and are explicitly supported by external funding agencies, such as the European Commission, whose main research programme Horizon 2020 targets societal challenges in order to address complex and interdependent problems.

Despite these positive indicators, several recent studies have demonstrated how scholarly work that crosses disciplinary boundaries is often poorly rewarded, if not in terms of funding, certainly with regard to academic recognition and career advancement. This is especially true in countries such as Italy, where the role of disciplines is strong in establishing demarcation criteria that are used not only to systematize the epistemological domains of science, but also to enable scholars to access material resources and positions of power.

The goal of the meeting that will take place in Venice on Tuesday, 26 September 2017, is to bring together scientists from different geographical and academic backgrounds and compare their experiences in order to build a common perspective. In the morning, Frédéric Darbellay (Université de Genève) will deliver an inaugural keynote speech on the opportunities and challenges offered by interdisciplinary approaches to science in the 21st century.

A first discussion on the current status of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research in Europe will take place at the end of the morning session. In the afternoon session, presentations will focus on the Italian situation and on the problems that innovative and cross-border research has to face in conservative and state-driven contexts. The final part of the meeting will be devoted to a group discussion, at the end of which we expect to identify a set of solutions to address the constraints that interdisciplinary research still has to deal with in our society.

Language

The event will be held in Italian

Organized by

Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Research Team “Creative Arts, Cultural Heritage and Digital Humanities”

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