Description
Humankind is currently facing a large number of global, societal problems, many of which are extremely complex. In order to solve these problems, interdisciplinary collaboration is crucial. Scientific research is riddled with examples of a lack of knowledge due to a lack of diversity in academic research teams, clinical trial participants, laboratory animals and cell lines. Additionally, there is an increasing demand for ethics and methodology of science by life scientists and clinicians.To address this need and these gaps in our education, an interdisciplinary, six-month program was developed within the Graduate School of Life Sciences (GSLS) of Utrecht University, where students from 16 different life sciences disciplines come together. The Life Sciences & Society program aims to teach students the importance of incorporating the societal perspective into research design, thereby increasing the impact of their work, and really meeting our society’s needs.
The main component of the program is the Capstone project, a transdisciplinary research project into a societal problem from an external partner, forming a bridge between science and society. Parallel to the project, students follow different theoretical modules during which they acquire knowledge about relevant topics, such as History & Philosophy of Life Sciences, Ethics and Research Integrity, Open Science, Diversity Perspectives, and Global & Planetary Health. The structure of the program gives them the unique opportunity to incorporate the new theoretical knowledge and perspectives into their Capstone project and to reflect on their project and methodology within the theoretical modules. The lecturers and teachers are from several schools within the university, giving the students an interdisciplinary perspective on the topics at hand.
The program also includes a series of workshops to train and develop the students’ personal and professional skills, allowing students to progress in their personal development. Students learn about collaboration, intercultural communication, personal working styles and conflict management, to name a few examples.
According to feedback from alumni, the Life Sciences & Society program’s emphasis on personal and professional development along with hands-on experience, was not only beneficial for their personal and professional growth, but also aided them in defining how they wanted to dedicate their careers as a life science professional.
Our study aims to investigate the impact of our program on past students’ professional identity formation. The study will use qualitative research methods, using semi-structured interviews with past participants of the program, one, two, and three years after completion. By exploring the alumni’s views on their role as scientists within society and how the different components of the program may have influenced their professional identity, we aim to evaluate the effectiveness of our program. This includes the possible effects the transdisciplinary nature of the program may have on the professional identity of alumni. The information gleaned from the study will be used to improve the curriculum of the program, and additionally, we hope that the findings will inspire other organizations to provide their students with similar opportunities to bridge the gap between academia and society.
| Period | 5 Nov 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event title | ITD24: Inter- and Transdisciplinarity Beyond Buzzwords: Educational Pathways for Sustainable Research Collaborations |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Utrecht, NetherlandsShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |