Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies – CEIS20

Mission

CEIS20 is an institution that sets the core of its mission in an interdisciplinary approach to scientific research in the fields of Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts, among others.

The Centre's main objectives are set in fostering the development of research, promoting events and activities that seek to divulge knowledge and enrich the scientific discourse, provision of services and consultancy, and offering advanced training courses in the context of its scientific framework and skill. Outlined thusly, our mission is to promote:

1. Researching topics and issues from an interdisciplinary framework. As such, it intends to crossover into different fields and types of knowledge, thusly seeking plural and nuanced methodologies that stem from an integrated, complex and global reading of reality;
2. A curricular offer at PhD and postdoctoral levels, as well as granting scholarships and prizes;
3. Sharing the results, findings and scientific accomplishments of research projects based at CEIS20;
4. The increase of scientific and academic exchange and the development of networks with other research centres, both at the national and international levels, that share parallel or complementary goals with CEIS20;
5. The provision of services of advanced research consultancy for both national and international organizations, State departments and representatives, and other civil society entities.

CEIS20's mission is developed through the Interdisciplinary Axes which define its scientific strategy and the Research Groups which make up its internal structure.

Strategy

The Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies is a knowledge-inclusive R&D unit committed to the contemporary production of interdisciplinary knowledge and invested in promoting the interconnection and reconfiguration of disciplines.

Our current scientific configuration (of structures and dynamics) is represented as an interdisciplinary research network. In this sense, it contrasts with the previous configuration of the Centre, which was essentially conceived as a tree-like structure, organised into seven Research Groups, subdivided into Research Lines (subdisciplines), up to individual specialisation. Our adopted notion of interdisciplinarity, however, is one that does not eschew but instead relies on disciplines and specialisations as essential to interdisciplinarity. The suggested restructuring envisions interdisciplinarity unfolding in two directions: bottom-up and top-down. The bottom-up approach begins with individual researchers (and specialised knowledge), who are integrated into Research Groups (RG) (researchers can be integrated in more than one RG). RGs are not monolithic/homogeneous disciplinary entities; rather, they are organised around disciplinary affinities, aggregating close disciplinary relations and problems. Crucially, collective research activity within RGs is now promoted via Research Projects instead of being organised into subdisciplines. Projects (funded or not) are led by a Principal Investigator (PI) affiliated with a specific RG, but can draw from multiple disciplines and involve researchers from other RGs, as well as collaborators with research placements outside the Centre. Projects thus channel interdisciplinary efforts in the bottom-up approach.

The top-down approach is based on a large conceptual domain that restructures and imagines the Centre as a coherent research project. The removal of the “20th-century” from our designation opened up the need for a domain that could coherently frame our activities (or we could run the risk of saying we study everything). We propose that the triad of key-concepts — the human, social, and artefact — (and their transformations in time and the environment) represents an overlapping large domain of targeted objects studied at CEIS20. Briefly, the human refers to the concept of a (knowing) subject (individual) and that of the species (plural); social refers to the various assemblages and forms of power constituted by the collective; and artefact refers to the agency of materialities used, produced and appropriated by humans, such as technology, art and language. Importantly, whereas the Centre’s work draws primarily from scientific areas such the humanities, social sciences and the arts, the study of the domain human-social-artefact can actually be drawn from any discipline, such as biology or mathematics, as is the case in the Centre. In other words, these key-concepts provide a large framework for the target domain of our activities, but do not limit the source of the disciplinary range of our work.

Ethics and Citizen Ccience

The CEIS20 community develops research at the interface between the humanities, arts, social and natural sciences, which entails a broad scope of ethical considerations in order to enable a fruitful collaboration with various stakeholders. Overall, our research is informed by the need to ensure respect for human rights, fundamental democratic values, non-discrimination and dignity of research participants throughout research process. Being aware of the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, we aim to observe the principles of autonomy, responsibility, intellectual freedom, integrity, transparency and accountability. To make sure those principles are respected, current and prospective research applications at the national level are checked against FCT Ethics self-assessment guide and the Code of Ethics, Conduct and Integrity of the University of Coimbra. As a research unit linked to the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (III-UC), the CEIS20 research community may seek the assistance of the III-UC Ethics Committee, particularly in the case of prospective doctoral and interdisciplinary research. All research developed in the centre adheres to existing protocols for informed consent and sensitive information to ascertain whether participants feel safely protected and duly aware of their role in research and of the potential impact it may have on their lives. Special care is being taken when dealing with third-country nationals, vulnerable populations and children.

Our research Centre follows and promotes policies regarding Open Science practices. Specifically, all CEIS20 scientific publications are being made available Open Access through the University of Coimbra’s repository Estudo Geral. Funds have been assigned in order to make interdisciplinary publications available in Gold and Green Open Access. In data sharing and circulation, research produced at CEIS20 will aim to comply with FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable).

CEIS20 will work to ensure the inclusion of gender dimension in research developed by its research community and to promote gender equality by effectively implementing gender policies aligned with the Plan for Equality, Equity and Diversity of the University of Coimbra.

Citizen science works as a vibrant and productive science-policy interface. It covers a wide range of activities and practices in open science/innovation and generally refers to active participation of volunteers in scientific research projects, where the general public becomes involved in various stages of the research process. Historically, it dates back to the 11th century, when individuals began reporting their astronomical, ornithological and meteorological observations. Strictly speaking, before the establishment of the paid profession of scientist in the late 19th century, it was mostly individuals with a scientific spirit and access to the necessary resources who were able to engage in research, whereby all science could be considered as citizen science. Today, the rise of digital technologies allowing for fast communication and collaboration independent of time and location has significantly strengthened Citizen Science practices.

At CEIS20 we embrace a vision that science belongs to citizens and thus should be readily available to the general public, unless protected by specific protocols for sensitive data. As an interdisciplinary centre, we aim for greater public engagement and democratization of science. Research made in fruitful collaboration with and for citizens is being developed at our centre. Citizens may act as contributors and collaborators and benefit from their involvement in research and innovation. In different research initiatives promoted by the CEIS20 community, general public – schools, municipalities, NGOs and individuals – have meaningful roles as they help generate new knowledge, are invited to shape research processes, to situate research results, and to expand dissemination and communication of research outputs. At the end of the day, CEIS20 researchers and general public work together to address societal problems and thus have potential to influence relevant public policies.