Together with Dr. Chad Baum from Aarhus University and Dr. Nathalie Sick from University of Technology Sydney, Prof. Dr. Stefanie Bröring published a new article on drivers of interdisciplinary knowledge areas in Technovation. They used the mixed-methods approach of group concept mapping to explore the drivers and barriers for emerging interdisciplinary knowledge areas (IKAs) – in this case, synthetic biology.

They focused on universities as a key locus of knowledge creation and exchange – which are called interdisciplinary invention ecosystems. Through this lens, they engaged with N=49 actors from academia and industry in the ecosystem around a German university in North-Rhine Westphalia.

The collected insights from different actors comprising this ecosystem allowed them to first identify the drivers seen as most important and changeable for the emergence of synthetic biology. More fundamentally, these insights shed light on prospective initiatives for the emergence of IKAs more broadly, e.g., what is needed to build legitimacy and how to promote broad-based collaboration.

The article is available open access here.