Student Experiences

My name is Michael Bui and I'm a double degree master's student in Interaction Technology and Electrical Engineering (Neurotechnology and Biomechatronics specialisation). I enrolled for the Transdisciplinary Master-Insert to find more meaning and coherence in the contrasting disciplinary knowledge I've gained throughout my studies.

MY VIEW ON TRANSDISCIPLINARITY

The experiences from the master-insert taught me the importance of working in a transdisciplinary manner. Some of the projects we worked on were so complex, that our individual expertise was not sufficient to come up with novel and effective solutions; it was the synergy of our disciplines that led to the outcomes that we are proud of. And finally, I realised that transdisciplinary working is more than just effective project management. Although it certainly plays a role, I think it's also about spanning your personal (disciplinary) boundaries.

Rather than building collaborative teams in which disciplinary expertise is merely shared, transdisciplinarity takes it to the next level by searching for and engaging with the discomfort of each other's knowledge domains. I believe that transdisciplinary knowledge spaces emerge by being open towards new methods and taking on responsibilities which may feel unfamiliar at first. In that way, the conventional boundaries of tools and techniques are spanned leading to new opportunities in the solution space.

I am a third year bachelor student in the Technology & Liberal Arts and Sciences (ATLAS). To finalise my academic profile, I enrolled for the Transdisciplinary Master-Insert. The freedom to shape your own projects, an inspiring community, and a focus on connecting science and society is what attracted me. The curriculum allowed me to go beyond my academic profile and helped me in becoming a responsible transdisciplinary leader.

WHAT TRANDISCIPLINARY LEADERSHIP MEANS TO ME

To me, transdisciplinary leadership means that one can intellectually connect, synergise the efforts and energy, and create a simultaneously professional and personal working environment for all stakeholders that are involved in a project. In other words, a transdisciplinary leader is able to communicate across any (disciplinary) boundary and facilitates those who are involved to do the same. The latter is especially important. In my experience, disciplinary boundaries are also bridged in multi- and interdisciplinary research projects, however, merely for the exchange of information. Transdisciplinary research requires all stakeholders that are involved to create a new unified intellectual framework, one that goes beyond the disciplinary boundaries. Learning about, experiencing, and actively working on developing transdisciplinary leadership skills and competencies opened a lot of doors for me. I have the feeling that I have only seen the tip of the iceberg and I cannot wait to keep on exploring, experimenting, and learning more about transdisciplinarity.

I am an European Studies/Comparative Public Governance student at UT and Universität Münster. My studies are already quite encompassing and when I read the mail about the insert my interest was sparked immediately. To me, science lives from combining thoughts and theories and moulding them into practical applications that can help to improve the world by a bit. Therefore, transdisciplinarity is an inevitable necessity to tackle the societal challenges of today´s globalised world.

HOW TO FACE CHALLENGES IN OUR CURRENT STATE?

Due to my study programme European Studies and Comparative Public Governance, I was already quite familiar with different fields of research working together to explore the same issues. We were already trained to combine politics, law, and economics. However, even when combined, we as political and administrative scientists tend to evaluate disciplines and their findings separately. This was always an issue for me. For example, in international relations we rarely analyse personal history of individual politicians and their psychological states. However, we expect nations and states to behave like they are individuals. 

Max Weber once alluded to Nietzsche´s expression of god is dead, by stating that the universal scholar was a dying breed. The world of the early 20th century and now more so than ever, is marked by an increasing need for specialisation. Today´s study programmes are mostly designed to be as specific and contingent as possible. Yet, every field acknowledges its own limitations and tries to circumvent them by becoming even more specific. This stands in stark contrast to the problems we are facing today. Climate change, political participation, gender equality, and pandemics are stress testing sciences and societies from uncountable angles. Unidimensional answers will only suffice for univariate causalities, which are pretty much non-existent. The literature is clear on that throughout all fields. 

What was the most memorable moment of your learning experience during the transdisciplinary master-insert?

The most memorable experience was within the first self-reflection session of the change-making module. Everyone gave an insight into very personal aspects of their lives. It was overwhelming how much this session changed how we interact with each other after taking the time to get closer on a personal level. I believe that this was very important as I could actively reflect on how to deal with each person in the team for a successful collaboration.

What was the most challenging moment?

I must say that the first phase of the programme was the most challenging. It is difficult to effectively work together when you are not really aware of the strengths of each discipline, and also ot each person. It was chaotic, and initially very annoying, but as time progressed, I learned how to deal with it; and it was worth it. 

What would be your advice to the future candidates of the transdisciplinary master-insert?

Be open-minded, take your time to provide feedback to your peers, take your time to reflect on your strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly, appreciate the community you are in and have fun! When the programme is over, you will miss the early mornings with everyone, trust me.

What was the main impact of following this programme on your personal and/or academic outlook?

I believe that the programme greatly enhanced my teamworking skills. I was lacking in aspects that I only became aware of due to the close collaboration with my peers. I became a leader, but not in the traditional sense. Because leadership is not about pointing people the right way anymore, it is about making an impact collaboratively. And I believe that this mindset will benefit us greatly in the future.

WHAT WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT OF YOUR LEARNING EXPERIENCE DURING THE TRANSDISCIPLINARY MASTER-INSERT?

I wrote in my individual assignment: Just like a clinical psychologist needs its patient, transdisciplinarians need their societal challenges.” This is my interpretation of Russel et al. (2008)'s description of 'transdisciplinary' as "a complex strategy that is specifically meant to tackle complex, interconnected and impactful challenges like environmental problems." That means that transdisciplinarity is not suitable (nor is it necessary) for tackling all problems.

WHAT WAS THE MOST CHALLENGING MOMENT?

Working in a transdisciplinary manner is tiring, messy, challenging, and, most of all, a lot of fun! It can be compared to riding with bumper cars; you constantly bump into each other, but you have fun while doing so. This is also the perfect opportunity to practice perspective-taking and empathising.  

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE TO THE FUTURE CANDIDATES OF THE TRANSDISCIPLINARY MASTER-INSERT?

When you work together with people from other disciplines, you need to find a 'neutral territory'. For example, do something that everyone is unfamiliar with. That's essentially why we built an escape room for our first assignment in the programme. 

WHAT WAS THE MAIN IMPACT OF FOLLOWING THIS PROGRAMME ON YOUR PERSONAL AND/OR ACADEMIC OUTLOOK?

Over the years, I got a bit lost in what I want in life. The master-insert helped me to get a deep insight into my own personality in relation to others. I now have a clear idea of what I personally want to develop and what kind of role I like to fulfil in a team. 

WHAT WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT OF YOUR LEARNING EXPERIENCE DURING THE TRANSDISCIPLINARY MASTER-INSERT?

I learned the most from the courses that least fitted my interests. For me, the first assignment was the biggest challenge, but also the most memorable. It was really cool to build an escape room and test it with different groups. Everyone could contribute to this escape room event in his/her own way.

WHAT WAS THE MOST CHALLENGING MOMENT? 

The organisation of the groupwork, the communication and the collaboration was quite tough in the beginning, but the result paid off the hard work.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE TO THE FUTURE CANDIDATES OF THE TRANSDISCIPLINARY MASTER-INSERT?

My advice for future students would be to not give up too quickly, and to be open for ideas and feedback from others. Also, stay honest with yourself and have fun!

WHAT WAS THE MAIN IMPACT OF FOLLOWING THIS PROGRAMME ON YOUR PERSONAL AND/OR ACADEMIC OUTLOOK?

In general, I found the programme to be a very valuable addition to my own regular master programme. It was nice to have such a diverse group of teaching staff and to receive their interesting lectures/workshops. They provided me/us with a lot of new insights and challenged us to think in a different way and to take a different perspective.