Research at BMS Takes Place Where Technology and Social Sciences Meet
Interdisciplinary research with a strong focus on the impact of technology on behaviour change and societal transformations is what unites many BMS researchers. Combined with a strong urgency to contribute to future-proof solutions, we cooperate with our societal partners. Technology is prominently present in BMS’ current research strategy which contributes to its distinctive research identity. We engage in understanding and working with technologies in different ways. Some researchers use technology as a tool for investigating interventions for behavioural change, while others focus on exploring potentials of pioneering technologies like robots, AI, or VR. Some collaborate with high-tech companies, and use (advanced) technology to collect data, while others see technology as an agent or force impacting individuals, organisations, and society.
We are convinced that acquiring better knowledge and competencies is possible, knowledge that fosters planetary, human, organisational, institutional, societal, and technological health and well-being. We commit to building a reliable social contract with society, organizations, businesses, and individual citizens for whom and with whom we will advance our research and teaching. We see these challenges as the engine for BMS to be a positive agent of change and transformation in the region, in the Netherlands and internationally.
BMS Research Strategy
BMS is guided by a multi-annual plan (2024-2028) where we set our course for the years to come. This plan contains four strategic decisions regarding research:
Focussing on Socially Disruptive Emerging Technologies
Essential to the BMS strategy is the focus on Socially Disruptive Technologies: technologies that profoundly change social and cultural practices, norms, values, and fundamental beliefs, not just for one sector in society, but for multiple sectors. Examples include, but are not limited to, AI, big data, robotics, synthetic biology, and climate technology. Acknowledging the great diversity in topics of research at BMS, we believe the overarching inspiration for all research groups at BMS is guided by the challenge of how, if, and when emerging Socially Disruptive Technologies generate transformative change in the behaviours of humans, organizations, and institutions.
Increasingly Using Mixed Research Methods for (Big) Data
In line with our understanding of socially disruptive emerging technologies, data is central to our research. We theorize how ongoing technological transformations reinforce the traditional functions of data as instruments of governance, management, policy, coordination, and control but also reframe and extend their role. (Big) Data allow for the identification of societal phenomena that would not be discovered by human observation or creativity alone. Building upon our rich legacy of expertise in explanatory and exploratory, in descriptive and analytical, in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, we are poised to leverage the unique strengths of each in a synergistic, mixed research methods approach, which focuses on analysing, interpreting, and providing meaning in an empirical context.
Enabling and growing our BMS Lab
Our BMS Lab serves as an innovative hub for interdisciplinary collaboration and cutting-edge research methodologies. With a focus on experimentation and data-driven insights, BMS Lab fosters a vibrant environment for scholars, researchers, and students to explore the intricacies of human and organizational behaviour and societal dynamics. Emphasizing a multidisciplinary approach, the lab leverages state-of-the-art technologies and a collaborative ethos to drive impactful solutions and contribute to the evolving landscape of social sciences. Committed to pushing the boundaries of traditional research paradigms, BMS Lab stands at the forefront of transformative research, leaving a lasting impact on the future of academia and society.
Pictured: BMS Lab and the ExperiVan in Enschede city centre
Effective Use of our Five Research Themes
We see our five research themes (Emerging Technologies & Societal Transformations, Health & Wellbeing, Learning, Resilience, Smart Industry) as flexible research platforms that offer space for open conversations to support BMS- and UT-wide research. In the coming years, we embrace and make effective use of these platforms. With the themes, we boost inter- and multi-disciplinarity, foster new initiatives, and stimulate collaborative research with researchers from other faculties, with external institutes, and with international partners. The research themes are well aligned with the UT research focus and with the different institutes. BMS research is embedded in the programs of DSI and the TechMED institute. Research in robotics is related to MESA+, and BMS researchers are involved in the developments related to the Climate programme.
Besides these five expertise areas, which are well established and have been around for several years, new developments and research initiatives have been taken off. For instance, the fields of planetary health, AI-research, and the field of sustainable circular economy are rapidly evolving. We are witnessing an ongoing, immersive and dynamic process of societal transformations that are intermingled with technological transformations. These new fields of research will be explored strategically in the coming periods.