STS Methods Lab: Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Studies

The STS Methods Lab at TIK explores methodological approaches in and across the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS). Science and Technology Studies is an interdisciplinary field of research exploring the role of science and technology in society, both historically and today. In the STS Methods Lab we engage with the questions of not only what methods and tools we use in our research, but also how we talk about, theorize, and reflect on methods, how we write about methods, how we combine different methods, and how we teach methods to students. Each semester, the STS Methods Lab organizes an open seminar series and workshops with invited national and international guest lecturers. The STS Methods Lab aims to further strengthen the STS research environment at TIK by expanding its transnational networks, strengthening interdisciplinary methods and exchange through PhD courses and hosting the Nordic STS conference in 2023.

The STS research group at the TIK Centre, UiO is renowned as a key STS community in Scandinavia, and has during recent years expanded and consolidated its research activities with new international hirings, an ERC starting grant, multiple interdisciplinary research collaborations, and four FRIPRO grants (including three Young Research Talents) in 2019. The network grant “STS Methods Lab” will enable the group to build on these earlier achievements, consolidate TIK as strong and renowned hub in STS internationally, with a particular engagement with interdisciplinary methodologies. It will expand international networks, enhance the group's methods capacities, and enable a PhD course series on core research topics, including current and past environmental issues and interdisciplinary engagements with humanities, medicine and the life sciences. The project “STS Methods Lab” aims to strengthen the STS research environment at TIK by (1) by hosting methods seminars with short-term visiting scholars, (2) strengthen methods competencies by means of establishing and conducting a series of PhD courses on STS methodologies and (3) organizing and hosting the Nordic STS conference (200-300 participants). By facilitating international exchanges with leading and emerging scholars, the STS group will both support the younger researchers in building their networks and introduce key international scholars to the Norwegian STS community. By organizing a cutting-edge PhD course series, the STS group will strong PhD candidates from Norway and abroad, and provide its younger researchers with an arena for PhD level teaching. By hosting the Nordic STS conference, the main forum for the STS community in the Nordic countries, TIK's STS research group will consolidate its position as key Nordic STS environment, and enable the PhD and master student environment to participate in organizing and contributing to a key academic event.