In recent years, European Commission funding calls including Horizon Europe increasingly support and prioritize the integration of social scientists and humanists into EU-funded STEM-related (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) research and innovation projects. SSH (social sciences and humanities) researchers are not meant to be an “add-on” or an afterthought to these R&I proposals, but fully integrated and mobilized within interdisciplinary projects that collectively author, frame, and investigate scientific questions that address Europe’s most pressing challenges.

In this advanced course, participants from STEM and SSH backgrounds will analyze, discuss, and investigate the actual practices of such cooperation and interdisciplinarity with reference to the Horizon Europe BioAssembler project, which aims to develop a new generation of multiplex biosensors. Through a series of eight dynamic sessions, participants will be invited to discuss inputs, outputs, and impacts of the STEM-SSH collaboration in this cutting-edge biotechnological research project. Together, members of the BioAssembler team, alongside invited speakers will identify and discuss best practices, methods, failures, and new approaches, with the goal of investigating what it means to have deep, meaningful interdisciplinarity between SSH and STEM experts.

Participants will be required to step outside their fields of expertise and engage across SSH-STEM epistemological divides. SSH researchers will be invited to familiarize themselves with the contemporary bio- and nanotech innovations that underpin the development of new biosensors. STEM researchers will similarly be invited to explore the social sciences, humanities, and arts, taking their methods, contributions, and insights as an integral part of developing evidence-based solutions to societal-level challenges.

This course is aimed at STEM and SSH researchers at all levels (PhD students, postdocs, early-career and established researchers). It is especially relevant to researchers interested in the interface between SSH and STEM; science, technology, and society studies (STS); science communications; biotechnology; and investigators planning to integrate SSH into EU R&I proposals and grant applications. Participants seeking to earn a certificate will have the opportunity to present their work, workshop proposals, or discuss ideas related to career development in this area.

General Structure and Course Certificate: 

This advanced course consists of eight (8) hybrid sessions held between April 2 and May 16, 2025. Six hybrid sessions will be held between April 2 and April 4, 2025 (3 days total) at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra. Two additional sessions will be fully remote, in May 2025.

• Four (4) sessions will be facilitated by SSH researchers and artists.
• Four (4) sessions will be facilitated by STEM researchers and industry experts.

In order to earn a course certificate, participants must attend a minimum of 5 sessions, including at least two (2) SSH-led sessions and two (2) STEM-led sessions. The fifth (and any additional) sessions can be chosen by the participant according to their research goals and interests.

In-person participants will be invited to give a brief presentation of their work as it relates to one of the themes presented in the course. Presentations will take place in the second-half of each session.

In-person sessions offer interactive learning with experienced lecturers who will share their perspectives working at the interface between STEM and SSH in biotechnology. Guest speakers include biotechnology researchers based at public labs and research centers; industry leaders in the field of multiplex biosensors, and artists whose creative work communicates scientific and technological innovations to the public. Participants will learn about major transformations underway in the world of biosensors, such as the animal-to-recombinant antibody transition, alongside exploring pathways to address the low integration of SSH in EU health and bioscience research to-date.

Invited Speakers and Bioassembler Team Members

André Caetano, Andrea Inocêncio, Anna Spehar (Biomensio, Finland), Bernardo Valente (CES), Emilia Barannik (VTT, Finland), Filipe Santos (CES), Gerhard Jobst (Jobst Technologies, Austria), Gisela Ibañez (University of Vienna, Austria), Gustavo Garcia (CES), Henrique Leonel Gomes (UC), Hugo Pinto (UAlg), Inês Montalvão, Jan Terbrack (Abcalis Lab, Germany), Joana Sousa (CES), Kristen Connor (CES), Laila Al-Halabi-Frenzel (Abcalis Lab, Germany), Mark Somoza (University of Vienna, Austria), Mathias Reisback (Jobst Technologies, Austria), Petri Saviranta (VTT, Finland), Rita Campos (CES), Tiago Santos Pereira (CES)  

Minimum and Maximum of Participants:
The Advanced Course will take place with a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 40 participants (20 in-person and 20 online).
 

Registration, Fees & Important Dates:
Deadline for registration: 24 March 2025.

Fees:

For in-person (April) and online (May)
Early Bird (by March 10, 2025): 40 euros
Regular rate (by March 10, 2025): 50 euros
Reduced rates for doctoral students (up to 5 participants; by March 10, 2025): 15 euros
CES Researcher, Junior Researcher and Pos-doc (up to 3 participants): 0 euros

For online only (April and May)
Early Bird (by March 10, 2025): 30 euros
Regular rate (by March 10, 2025): 40 euros
Reduced rates doctoral students (up to 7 participants; by March 10, 2025): 10 euros


Important Notes
- Registrations are only considered valid after payment.
- In-person fees cover reading materials, coffee breaks, lunches, a copy of an illustrated book (the BIOASSEMBLER "visual dictionary") and a welcome kit.
- Online fees cover reading materials.
- For cancellations up to March 21, 2025 an administrative fee of 20€ will be charged; there will be no refunds for cancellations after this date.
 

Organizing team | Rita Campos (CES), Kristen Connor (CES) & Bernardo Valente (CES).

Target Participants:

• STEM and SSH researchers at all levels (PhD students, postdocs, early-career and established researchers).
• Anyone with an interest in: biotechnology; social science and humanities integration; science, technology, and society studies (STS); science communications; EU grant writing and project evaluation.
   

Official Language:
The official language of the Advanced Course will be English. Participants are expected to have minimal skills at the level of oral and written understanding of the English language. Oral fluency is not a requirement, but participants are expected to have minimal oral skills.
 

Financing:
This Advanced Course is supported by BioAssembler. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101070589.

This Advanced Course reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.