Wicked Problems, Interdisciplinary Approaches

Susan Parnell, SNIS SC President, Jan Klabbers, SC memberSo one of the things which is for me always helpful, is the research question clear? Okay. And that's actually quite difficult to do when you have a group. It's much easier when you're a lone researcher to have a very clear research question. And so having, if you can start off by having a really clear research question, but then your research design demonstrates how the component parts of the project, because in a large project, they are always component parts.Okay. And that's how we put these projects together. But do the Lego blocks. make up something that is greater than the individual legible components. And quite often what you'll see is little components that are actually all quite interesting. But the research overarching research question is not clear.And the way that the component parts relate back To the core question is not clear and then you certainly see that in the methods because typically what happens is that different elements of the projects have slightly different methods or methodological components. The question of how you bring all these things together at the other end to say, so what?Who's that going to, what difference is this going to make? Who's that going to interact with? That doesn't always get defined very well. And then finally, I think that the really crucial thing is it's a bit like casting in a play. Are the people who are involved in the project the right people and do they have the right size role? So it's that coherence and clarity that for me marks art a really distinguished application. Jan Klabbers, SNIS SC memberI would think a project is a good project if it ends up telling me something about the world I live in that does not. exclude delving into theories and seeing whether someone was right or wrong. That does not exclude using particular methods to show how well they are adapted to the problem at hand. But if it stays at that, then it doesn't tell me much about the world I live in. 

Research results must be shared, spread and enacted if they are to make an impact. Especially in the case of hotly debated policy, social economic and political issues, such as climate change and loss of biodiversity. In this podcast we bring testimonies from Profs. Sonia Senevirante, at the ETH, and Julia Steinberger , from UNIL who put their actions where their research is and undertake activities to lend credibility and a voice to their results. They are what one would call researchers activists. Holding the keynote interventions at this year's ScienceComm 23 Conference they brought an uplifting and empowering perspective on how to do both research and activism, what are the inertial points in the systems that need change and where to look for signs things could budge. We are very grateful for their contributions and hope listeners will find them inspiring.

As Italy showcases a new deal with Albania on refugee centres and more and more people choose to undertake the risky journey over to Europe, we wanted to find out more about how such decisions are made, who is involved in taking them, with what expectations and what outcomes. We invited former and current SNIS grantees who have looked into the detailed picture of migration to tell us more about what they found out. Amongst the highlights of this podcast are the fact that candidates to migration have a broad picture view of the risks and dangers related to it, who are not really likely to dissuade them in a first stage. Also, new schemes of "guest worker" approach appear to be emerging, giving rise to absurd situations.

Academic research and policies on migration are at odds with each other as to what is to be done regarding the series of tensions and crises that have become "normal" on this subject in Europe.In this podcast, three SNIS lead researchers, Profs. Bilgin Ayata, Markus Gerber and Timothy Raeymaekers bring insights on the newest research and policy trends and their potential impacts on the actors involved in migration to and from the EU.The highlights of the discussion focus on the importance of work in the mental and physical wellbeing of persons on a migration path and worrying developments concerning academic researchers' right to access free and complete information for their studies, currently being debated in the EU parliament.

Work: a commodity or a way of being in the world that needs protection, regulations and standards? The debate is two centuries old and still raging. Listen to Prof. Jean Michel Bonvin, Prof. Jean Christophe Graz and Dr. Nicola Cianferoni explain what still needs to be done about work, social dialigue and standards and how their SNIS funded projects shed light on current challenges. SNIS Projects featured: The gig economy and its social implications and Governance by Contract

Tune in to the first episode of our series, in which Prof. Jaya Krishnakumar and Prof. Ugo Panizza talk about how interdisciplinarity helped them become better researchers of their subjects: debt and economics. But also how interdisciplinarity is a challenge for researchers at the beginning of their careers. SNIS projects featured in this podcast: Impact of Globalization on Opportunities for Human Development. and Debt in the aftermath of the pandemic