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trained to enter a research ecosystem in which different disciplines must work together to address a problem. This is far more characteristic of interdisciplinary research consortia such as Equator (see earlier boxed evidence), rather than more topically focused doctoral training centres. If this ability to respond to problems in an innovative way is more characteristic of professional preparation than of conventional research training – we recommend that the suitability of some of the emerging higher education and doctoral training programmes are reviewed against the critical success factors and capacities identified by our analysis. 8.6. Conclusion Interdisciplinary working offers significant opportunity for radical innovation, and can be an essential enabler of the capacity to respond to future challenges that do not conform to today’s structures of knowledge and organisation. Interdisciplinary innovation achieves those ends in a manner that is highly dependent on personal strengths and experiences of expert practitioners, resisting many embedded institutional forms of organization and evaluation. Nevertheless, it is possible to recognize and enable the conditions in which such practitioners are able to innovate effectively and repeatedly. This report describes the real nature of interdisciplinary innovation, and the contextual factors that are respectively supportive or obstructive of the valuable outcomes that it produces for society. Innovation and Interdisciplinarity 86
9. Contributors and Acknowledgements 9.1. Expert witnesses The greatest proportion of the content of this report is derived from in-depth field interviews and discussion workshops with a group of expert witnesses. The process for selecting these experts is described in Appendix A. We are very grateful indeed for the time that they generously contributed to the project, in some cases involving several days of preparation and travel. Project research materials include far more detailed descriptions of their biography, affiliations and research projects, and the main text of the report does include several illustrative case studies with more detail. The following list is intended as a quick reference to supplement the body of the report, and also an acknowledge of the substantial contribution these individuals have made to the report: � Stephen Allot (Trinamo Ltd), spoke about his development of a new contractual model for sale of computer systems at Sun Microsystems. � Gerald Avison, Victor Humberstone and Chas Sims described the work of the Technology Partnership (TTP). � Jeremy Baumberg (University of Cambridge) spoke about his work as principal investigator of the UK NanoPhotonics Portfolio Centre. � David Cleevely (Abcam/Cambridge Angels) spoke about his diverse experiences as a company founder and venture capital investor. � Geoff Crossick (Warden of Goldsmiths College) reflected on presentations from his perspective as founding chief executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Council. � Helena Earl (Addenbrookes Hospital) described her work as an academic clinician in a multidisciplinary oncology department. � Peter Guthrie (Cambridge University) spoke about the techniques by which Engineering students are prepared for participation in planning enquiries within a Sustainable Development context. � David Halpern (Institute for Government) spoke about his work with Tony Blair in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, and subsequent creation of the Social Exclusion Unit. � Tom Inns (University of Dundee) spoke about his professional design career, and his work as director of the AHRC/EPSRC Designing for the 21st Century initiative. � Rose Luckin (London Knowledge Lab) spoke about the management of the project Village e-Science for Life (VeSeL) involving UK researchers working in a Nigerian field site. � Philip Morris (University of York) described his responsibility for arts and Innovation and Interdisciplinarity 87
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Technical Report Number 760 Radical
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Radical innovation: crossing knowle
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1.2. Contents 1.1. Executive summar
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2. Introduction Innovation is not a
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2.1. Definitions Several readers of
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perhaps by exploiting emerging tech
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3.1.1 A key enabler: the ‘pole-st
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ought together. � The collective
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these perceptions of lack of discip
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ecause they reconfigure existing ma
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develop and deliver based on the te
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problems of society are complex - a
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analytic consistency. Although not
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expertise might be better utilised.
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intellectual approaches. It is not
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The need for and management of inte
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different language). Rather, they h
Page 35 and 36: 4. Wedding Creativity and Knowledge
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Page 51 and 52: developed to stimulate creativity w
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Page 55 and 56: ideological advances. Many projects
Page 57 and 58: designers. Peter Guthrie 32 and the
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Page 89 and 90: 10. Bibliography Adams, J., Jackson
Page 91 and 92: Hallam, E. and Ingold, T. (eds.) (2
Page 93 and 94: Merton, P., and E. Barber. (2004).
Page 95 and 96: Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of p
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