Call for Abstracts: Interdisciplinary Research in a Disciplinary World
Structural Conditions, Lived Experiences, and the Promise of Knowledge Beyond Boundaries
Workshop Dates: 5–6 November 2026
Location: Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna
Abstract Deadline: 7 September 2026
The interdisciplinary research project EIROC is inviting abstracts for a workshop examining the conditions, challenges, and possibilities of interdisciplinary research within contemporary academic systems.
The workshop focuses on the tensions between the growing demand for interdisciplinary research and the institutional structures that continue to organize knowledge production along disciplinary boundaries. Against the backdrop of interconnected ecological, economic, political, and social crises, the event aims to explore both the intellectual promise and structural obstacles of interdisciplinary inquiry.
Workshop Themes
The organizers welcome contributions addressing topics including:
- Lived experiences of interdisciplinary research, including its rewards, frictions, and compromises
- Structural conditions shaping interdisciplinary work across academia
- Interdisciplinary research and questions of academic labor, precarity, and the political economy of knowledge production
- Theoretical and empirical perspectives from higher education studies, science and technology studies, research policy, and related fields
The workshop will combine paper presentations, discussion rounds, and interactive workshops designed to facilitate exchange across disciplines. The first day will conclude with a panel discussion focused on how interdisciplinarity can be structurally supported within academic institutions.
Submission Details
Researchers from all disciplines are invited to submit abstracts of approximately 200 words.
Submit abstracts to:
theresa.hager@jku.at
laura.porak@jku.at
susanna.azevedo@univie.ac.at
Submission deadline: 7 September 2026
There are no workshop fees. Please note that accommodation and travel expenses cannot be covered by the organizers.
About the Project
The workshop is part of the concluding event of the EIROC (“Explicit and Implicit Rules of Competition”) interdisciplinary research project, funded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The project examines rules of competition across contexts including global inequality, European sustainability transitions, and housing affordability.