Stabile Interdisziplinarität

Science policy demands more interdisciplinary collaborations in order to enhance the innovation capabilities of research. Unfortunately, there is a lack of satisfactory answers to the question what institutional strategies and epistemic practices promote the emergence and stabilization of interdisciplinary collaborations. The book investigates these issues by means of a case study about electron microscopy. The practitioners of this physical research technology collaborated for decades with a wide range of disciplines including material sciences as well as life sciences. On the basis of the case study, it is possible to identify the institutionalization of service labs as a precondition for the stability of interdisciplinary collaborations. However, the long-term perpetuation of this collaborative form depends on epistemic conditions beyond the reach of science policy’s impact.