INTERFACES Colloquium Series - #14

Rethinking research funding: What are appropriate funding conditions for transdisciplinary research in Africa?

Dr Eefje Aarnoudse, H-BRS/INTERFACES, presented the colloquium on 14 November. She reported from her activities and progress on a meta-research of transdisciplinary research funding programmes in Germany and Africa. Transdisciplinarity in research projects is useful in addressing complex societal issues. However, research projects which have implemented transdisciplinary approaches also face challenges, for example in resource availability or the long time required for trust building amongst the stakeholders which projects often do not have.

After presenting a short video from two  workshops with research funders, researchers and practitioners in Germany and Ghana, Dr. Aarnoudse informed the audience of a recent working paper on the issue published by H-BRS. During the discussion the participants looked at additional ideas from other funding streams and experience from research groups on how to foster transdisciplinary approaches in research. One point that was made prominently is the need to evaluate these approaches by funders but also within research teams to learn for future project development.