The importance of developing socio-technical solutions through interdisciplinary collaboration is increasingly acknowledged by policymakers and research groups. However, fostering such collaborations remains challenging due to disciplinary boundaries and funding mechanisms that hinder their sustainable development.
To address these challenges, the STS Cambridge Network (SCaN) organised the event Where is the Human in the Data? Bridging STEM and AHSS Hearts & Minds on 6 February. The gathering brought together researchers from across disciplines to explore barriers to collaboration and foster new connections.
The afternoon was followed by a morning workshop designed to strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations across policy, research, and commercialisation. The session featured two speakers: Dr Matjaz Vidmar, who presented Overcoming Ethical Challenges in Collaboration: Epistemic and Ethical Frameworks for Embedded Research – the PERIpatetic Approach, and Tomas Ulrichsen (IfM-UCI), who shared insights from the study Commercialising Social Science Research: Insights from the University of Cambridge, which identifies key barriers, enablers, and pathways to success. The study was conducted by IfM Engage in collaboration with the Policy Evidence Unit for University Commercialisation and Innovation.
Through panel discussions, a session on funding mechanisms, and a playful speed-dating and proposal-writing competition, participants explored how Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) and STEM fields can work together to shape ethical, innovative, and socially impactful research. The occasion welcomed 60 attendees and featured 14 speakers, 2 panels, and a seminar workshop with 2 presentations. Five interdisciplinary teams also submitted ideas through the speed-dating competition, beginning to draft a blueprint for future collaborative work.
Some takeaways of the experience
- STEM researchers thrive on solving problems, while AHSS scholars excel at defining them. But not everything needs a ‘solution’ — sometimes, it’s the storytelling that reveals why it matters.
- Disciplinary boxes shape how we work, what we prioritise, and what outcomes we produce. But we can move beyond labels, learn to understand each other’s needs, translate each other’s knowledge, and go much further together.
- Collaboration takes learning. We may all be ‘researchers,’ but at times, it feels like we come from different countries, each with its own culture and language.
- It’s not about departments or projects – it’s about people. Building relationships and trust takes time. The real measure of success? When partners want to work together again.
- And the unspoken recipe for successful AHSS–STEM collaborations? Humility to accept different ways of seeing the world as valid. Willingness to be vulnerable and sit with discomfort. And equity — to make the ground equally ‘uneven’ for everyone.
About the STS Cambridge Network (SCaN)
Launched last summer by Dr Valeria Ramírez and Dr Louise Elstow, the network embraces a broad understanding of Science, Technology and Innovation Studies (STIS), spanning disciplines, schools, and departments across Cambridge. SCaN was created in response to the lack of intra-institutional mechanisms to support and connect STS and STS-adjacent researchers, both within the university and with wider regional and international STS communities. To receive updates from SCaN, you can join the Jisc mailing list stscambridgenetwork@jiscmail.ac.uk, or simply email mvr26@cam.ac.uk to be added.
Convenors
Chair: Dr Valeria Ramirez
Co-chairs: Dr Maya Indira Ganesh, Dr Louise Elstow, Dr Joshua Fitzgerald
Organising committee members: Dr Daniela Boraschi, Dr Nino Läubli, Amaia Robertson Nogues,
Sponsoring organisations: West Hub Cambridge (Small Grants Programme) – Cambridge and STS Network (SCaN)
Supporting organisations: Institute for Manufacturing, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (ITH), Think Lab, Postdocs of Cambridge Society, ECR Assembly – CRASSH, Postdoc Academy, and the Kavli Centre for Ethics, Science, and the Public.