Researchers’ Public Engagement in the Context of Interdisciplinary Research Programs: Learning and Reflection from Boundary Crossing

Abstract

Outreach activities might facilitate researchers’ boundary crossing not only between science and society but also between disciplines. This offers opportunities for learning and reflection on the individual and the organizational level, resulting in what we call retroactive effects. We questioned N = 75 researchers of two interdisciplinary research programs. Researchers reported positive retroactive effects on their enjoyment of and skills for engaging in outreach activities (OA) and partly agreed that OA had benefited interdisciplinary communication and networking within the research program. However, doctoral researchers were hesitant toward public engagement, compared with postdoctoral researchers and professors. This research allows implications for fostering the role of researchers in institutional communication efforts.