The Workshops

• Why should you even work in interdisciplinary teams? Is this a bad career move – or perhaps the opposite?
• How do you get the most out of an interdisciplinary team, both as an individual and as a group?
• Which challenges can arise within a disciplinary research group? How do you “conquer” them and what can you learn from the experience?
• Leading an interdisciplinary team – is it different than leading other research groups? 

Caroline Hallin from the Faculty of Engineering and Magnus Larsson from the School of Economics and Management – both Pufendorf IAS’ alumni – share their views and experiences  on interdisciplinary teams.

Fika and light lunch will be provided. 

10 October, Pufendorf Lecture Hall, 9.15-12.15 

Feel free to stick around at Pufendorf IAS after lunch and talk to your colleagues, work with PAC-assignments or just work in peace. 

This workshop provides strategies and practical techniques to finish your interdisciplinary work on time and feel good along the way. The aim is to:

• Support academics in deliberately choosing what commitments to address during what period, and what not to address (either at all, or not at a given period).
• Identifying  “the vital few from the trivial many” and not try to be all things for everyone all the time. This theme is significant concerning the everyday academic life, where interdisciplinary work might mean that you spend some time away from your regular workplace and might thus end up with two full-time jobs if you do not devise a strategy for the new situation.
• Give examples of practical hands-on tools from this workshop include setting goals for interdisciplinary work, time management with respect to projects with more ”unknown variables,” and a tool for getting the interdisciplinary team aligned around the same final product. 

Åsa Burman, CEO of Finish on Time, LU alumnus and researcher with experience from interdisciplinary projects will present concrete tools and strategies. This workshop connects to the following workshop: From disciplinary scholarship to interdisciplinary publications.

Fika and light lunch will be provided. 

23 October, Pufendorf Lecture Hall, 9.15-12.15 

Feel free to stick around at Pufendorf IAS after lunch and talk to your colleagues, work with PAC-assignments or just work in peace. 

How will you get enough time and energy to finish that huge interdisciplinary writing project? A couple of articles are in process, others need adjusting after peer review, and a co-author expects your parts of the text - but you have no earthly idea of how to finish either. Are you struggling with impostor’s syndrome, perfectionism and procrastination, resulting in writer’s block? You are not alone. Many of us experience academic writing as stressful and frustrating, when we know (or have heard) that it can be rewarding. There are proven strategies and tools to shift from writer’s block to writer’s flow. This workshop focuses explicitly on interdisciplinary academic writing.

Shifting from being well-established in one’s field, concerning reputation, methods, and theories, to an unknown academic territory can be challenging, especially when it comes to reading, writing and publishing in an interdisciplinary setting. Common academic obstacles like the impostor syndrome, perfectionism, and the clear deck fantasy (”I will finish all these other tasks first, then I will start writing”) can appear. 

This workshop offers research-based tools for managing common psychological obstacles to academic writing, such as the impostor syndrome, perfectionism and procrastination, and the psychological aspects surrounding them. It also offers a tool-box for writing more happily and productively (alone and together with others), and how to achieve a sense of continuous flow in your writing process. Other common challenges concern navigating different standards of excellence, publication strategies, and an interdisciplinary team.

Henrik Levinsson (PhD) and Linde Lindkvist (PhD), both researchers with long experience from interdisciplinary – and intersectional – research areas and both currently also facilitators at Finish on Time. 

Fika and light lunch will be provided.

10 November, Pufendorf Lecture Hall, 9.15-12.15

Feel free to stick around at Pufendorf IAS after lunch and talk to your colleagues, work with PAC-assignments or just work in peace. 

Do you want to reach a broad, international audience with your research? The Conversation is a global platform where researchers co-write articles with professional editors – reaching readers worldwide.

In this interactive workshop, you will:

• Get an introduction to The Conversation and why it’s a strategic platform for research communication
• Gain insight into how editors think – what catches their attention and what to avoid
• Take part in an exercise to shape and test your article idea

Articles that gain traction on The Conversation often share one key trait: they offer readers a clear aha! moment – a surprising angle, fresh perspective, or unexpected insight. Interdisciplinary collaborations tend to increase the chances of this. When disciplines intersect, new questions arise – and editors love ideas that make readers think in new ways.

The workshop is led by Ellen Albertsdóttir, research communication strategist and coordinator of Lund University’s collaboration with The Conversation.

Bring an idea to develop – or just come and get inspired.

Fika and light lunch will be served. 

5 December 09.15-12.15

The workshop will start with a conversation (!) about the programme so far with Åsa Thormählen from the Pufendorf IAS.

Feel free to stick around at Pufendorf IAS after the workshop and talk to your colleagues, work with PAC-assignments or just "work in peace" 

Interdisciplinary research is often especially well positioned to address societal concerns – not only through the questions it raises, but also through the language it uses. This day is designed to help researchers strengthen their communication skills and better understand how their work can engage with society.

In the morning session, political scientist Åsa Knaggård will talk about the role of science in society and the importance of interdisciplinary research. She will raise issues like what roles researchers can take in relation to society and argue that researchers working interdisciplinary in several ways are better prepared for communicating their research beyond academia than other researchers. Knaggård will also address how researchers can engage with policy processes and contribute to impact in society.

The afternoon session takes a more practical approach, focusing on how to plan your communication. Researchers will share their experiences, and science communicator Ulrika Oredsson will offer insights into choosing the right channel for your message, what support is available from the university, and how to handle negative responses such as hate or threats.

Fika and light lunch will be provided. 

16 January 09.15-15.30 (NB) Pufendorf Lecture Hall. 

Feel free to stick around at Pufendorf IAS after the workshop and talk to your colleagues, work with PAC-assignments or take care of your inbox before you head home. 

ENGLISH TEXT TO FOLLOW

• Interdisciplinära artiklar: Hur och var ska jag publicera? Vilket stöd finns det i att hitta ”rätt”journals/motsv.?
• Open access – vad måste jag tänka på just i interdisciplinära sammanhang?
• Vem bör läsa (före publicering)?
• Hur kommunicerar jag publiceringen? (Påminn om det vi pratade om vid Fo-komm-WS)

Fika and light lunch will be served. 

March

During the last couple of months, the Pufendorf Academy participants have worked with an application to start either an Advanced Study Group or a Theme at Pufendorf IAS. Now it’s time to present the application for the group – and possibly also Pufendorf alumni. 

• The participants will also talk about their application process: What was most awarding? Challenges? Most surprising? How did you go about finding out if the idea was ”novel” enough?
• Every group and/or participant get 10 minutes each to "pitch" their ideas. 

A panel will listen to your presentation ang give feed-back.

Fika and light lunch will be served.   

April 2026 (Time TBD)

Finding funding for cross and interdisciplinary research projects remains challenging. Even if many research funding bodies acknowledge the importance of funding this type of research, their evaluation processes can be unprepared to handle the unique challenges of properly assessing these applications. Applications must often both demonstrate scientific excellence and sound project planning, while at the same remaining accessible and thorough enough to convince evaluators from wildly divergent disciplines.

So how does one propose cross- and interdisciplinary research for evaluation? What are the common pitfalls and how does one avoid them? And what opportunities are available for researchers in Sweden to fund this type of research? 

With: Research services: John Philips, Kerstin Gidlöf, Sara Naurin 

9 June 2026 13.13-17.15 (NB)

This event is open for all LU researchers. Right after the event, participants in Pufendorf Academy will gather in the Pufendorf garden for a little farewell ceremony.