Descripción del proyecto
Estudio de la dinámica organizativa de los consorcios científicos internacionales
Los consorcios científicos internacionales son cada vez más importantes en los esfuerzos para hacer frente a retos mundiales como, por ejemplo, cómo responder a emergencias sanitarias importantes, el desarrollo de nuevas fuentes de energía limpia y cómo conservar nuestro medio ambiente. Aunque dichos consorcios son cada vez más importantes, nuestra comprensión de su dinámica organizativa distintiva se ha quedado atrás. Los consorcios científicos internacionales son organizaciones complejas en las que el trabajo está geográficamente disperso e implica a varios grupos de partes interesadas del mundo académico, del gobierno y de la industria. En consecuencia, existe una necesidad acuciante de una nueva teoría de la organización que haga avanzar nuestra comprensión de estos consorcios. INSCONS, financiado con fondos europeos, es un ambicioso intento de hacer frente a esta necesidad mediante el estudio de las estructuras organizativas e historias de tres grandes consorcios de investigación en fusión nuclear, biomedicina y geociencias.
Objetivo
INSCONS is a groundbreaking, large-scale examination of the organisational dynamics of international scientific consortia (ISCs) and the interactions of these consortia with broader scientific communities, national bureaucracies, and industry. ISCs are very complex organisations with work being carried out at geographically dispersed sites, and involving international stakeholder groups from across the realms of science, policy, and industry. As these ISCs are becoming more important in efforts to address global challenges in areas such as health, the environment, and clean energy, our understanding of the distinctive organizational dynamics governing these consortia has lagged behind. Accordingly, there is a pressing need for novel organisational theory and frameworks that will advance our understanding of ISCs. INSCONS is an ambitious effort to address this need, using a comparative, interdisciplinary approach. Three case studies of large, international ISCs in nuclear fusion research, biomedicine, and the geosciences are at the core of INSCONS. The INSCONS project will examine four aspects of these ISCs. It will 1) Map the internal organisational dynamics of ISCs using interviews, bibliometric network analyses, and ethnographic field studies on everyday work in ISCs. 2) It will study ISCs’ interactions with the broader scientific community by conducting a survey among researchers in the scholarly fields ISCs operate in, and by analysing these fields’ co-authorship networks. 3) It will examine the (inter)national political processes and bureaucratic wrangling shaping ISCs. 4) It will examine relationships of dependency and influence between ISCs and industry through case studies as well as analyses of patenting and publication activities. Taken together, the project outputs of INSCONS will bring into clear focus the sociology and politics, as well as the operational complexities that govern this important, new organisational form in contemporary science.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantInstitución de acogida
WC1E 6BT London
Reino Unido