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Paper short abstract

Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research (ITD) is promoted to address societal challenges but shaped by paradoxes. Drawing on STS and paradox theory, this paper examines how collaborations in a Swiss research centre negotiate tensions to shape sociotechnical futures in digital construction.

Paper long abstract

Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary (ITD) research is promoted as a key approach for addressing complex societal challenges such as sustainability. Yet ITD research is characterized by persistent paradoxes which may hinder systemic innovation. Applying a science and technology studies (STS) and paradox lens, this paper examines how ITD research is narrated and practiced in a large research centre in Switzerland. Drawing on a meta-narrative analysis of innovation narratives in digital construction publications and an autoethnography of the author embedded within the centre, the study asks what futures become possible through diverse ITD configurations of the centre.

Focusing on several research collaborations within the centre that span varying degrees of disciplinary integration and industry involvement, the study analyses how tensions between disciplinarity and ITD are negotiated in ways that make diverse futures feasible. These negotiations unfold through ‘balancing acts’ – boundary practices and objects such as research demonstrators, reports, collaborative processes, and research publications. The findings suggest that different configurations of ITD research collaborations stabilize distinct innovation narratives and sociotechnical trajectories. Rather than simply enabling innovation, ITD configurations actively shape which futures become thinkable and actionable within emerging fields such as digital construction.