Who: Team & TIMs

Project Team

The research project team as a whole is responsible for productive partnerships among researchers and external stakeholders. Different members of the team can have different strengths that are valuable. Beyond research strengths, these skills include capacity for facilitation, translating across disciplines and non-academic partners, communication skills, strategy and ongoing learning and evaluation, and project management. Not all team members need to have all these skills but they support effective project design and implementation.

 

TIMs - A unique role in Transdisciplinary Research Processes

A TIM -  Transacademic Interface Manager - is a recommended role in a transdisciplinary research project. A TIM manages the collaboration and facilitates the exchanges among scholars and stakeholders in transdisciplinary research projects (Brundiers et al. 2013). TIMs have a key role to play that is about overseeing and catalyzing the co-creation processes with external stakeholders in order to address societal challenges. Co-creation means stakeholders are actively engaged in the life cycle of the project and contribute their knowledge in meaningful ways.

Brundiers, Wiek & Kay (2013)

 

Meet the TIMs

Are you interested in becoming a TIM? Contact us here to receive updates on positions.

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TIMs compared to Knowledge Brokers

There are similarities between the role of a TIM and Knowledge Broker within the university. These include supporting the interests of researchers and facilitating conversations with external actors. The key difference is that TIMs are focused specifically on facilitating the co-creation process with stakeholders on a research initiative or project.