PD Dr. Bianca Vienni Baptista

Current position at ETH:

2023 -       Privatdozentin (PD), Habilitation thesis: "Cultural studies of collaborative science: disentangling inter- and transdisciplinary cultures, practices and policies".

2022-        Group Leader Cultural Studies of Science & Technology (CSTS)

Possible Master and Bachelor theses

Research area:

I work in the field of anthropology of science and technology within Science, Technology and Society Studies (STS), focusing in particular on the study of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge production processes. As a result, I am interested in methods and tools as well as concepts and theories as means of achieving transformative and developmental change. My research focuses on the specific conditions for inter-and transdisciplinary research and on the production and social use of knowledge in different countries, including the role of universities and other institutions.

My experience in the field is underpinned by a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies and my Habilitation (venia legendi) from ETH Zürich. I am currently Group Leader of Cultural Studies of Science and Technology, working on three research projects.

On the one hand, we study inter- and transdisciplinary practices, methods and policies in the project “Investigating interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity: intersections among practices, culture(s) and policy in collaborative research” (INTERSECTIONS), funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, PRIMA Grant). This opens new research lines by applying a cultural approach to knowledge co-production innovative processes.

On the other hand, my team applies transdisciplinary methods and co-designs stakeholder engagement plans for sustainable innovations. This is accomplished through two projects:

• "Delivering the next generation of Open Integrated Assessment Models for net-zero, sustainable development” (DIAMOND) (2022-2026), funded by Horizon Europe. 
• “Co-Evolution and Coordinated Simulation of the Swiss Energy System and Swiss Society (Cosi), funded by “Swiss Energy research for the Energy Transition” (SWEET Programme), Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE).

Selected publications:

Research Collection – Publication platform of ETH Zurich

• Vienni-Baptista, B. (2024). Investigating Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity: How meta-ethnography contributes to the Study of Collaborative Research Practices?call_made
• Vienni-Baptista, B., & C. Pohl (2023). Exploring Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity as Knowledge Regimes: A Heuristic Tool for Disentangling Understandings in Academia and Policycall_made
• Vienni-Baptista, B. Fletcher, I. and Lyall, C. (eds) (2023) Foundations of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Research. A Readercall_made
•  Pearce, B.B., Vienni-Baptista B., Stauffacher M., Krütli, P., Paulsen T., & Buser T. (2023). Creating spaces and cultivating mindsets for learning and experimentation in transdisciplinaritycall_made.
• Vienni Baptista, B & Klein, J. T. (2022) Institutionalizing Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity.Collaboration across Cultures and Communities.call_made
• Vienni-Baptista, B. Fletcher, I., Lyall, C. and Pohl, C. (2022) Embracing heterogeneity: Why plural understandings strengthen interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinaritycall_made