Relying on Relays

A Socio-technical Integration Model for Interdisciplinary Research

Abstract

This article proposes a theoretical model for practices of integrating knowledge across disciplines. We characterise it by the sports metaphor of a relay, to highlight the directional interactions that occur in interdisciplinary work when it is organised as a series of exchanges of materials, data, calculations, and models. Drawing on existing research to outline its main features, we develop the model using interviews with and observations of scientists in three biotechnology projects. The article analyses how scientists describe and practice interdisciplinarity, examining the underlying moral economy and their efforts at integration. The sequential exchanges between laps of disciplinary work form the core of the interdisciplinary epistemic machinery in each of the analysed projects. Achieving integration requires alignment through infrastructuring, calibration, and articulation work. The relay model describes a particular socio-material practice of interdisciplinarity. We conclude by discussing its potential and limitations.