Maastricht University Science, Technology and Society Studies
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The Maastricht University – Science, Technology and Society Studies (MUSTS) research programme studies the relations among science, technology and society, focusing on Cultures of Research and Innovation. We are interested in settings that are infused with new knowledge, instruments, artefacts, actors, and skills—whether in the laboratory, the hospital, the workshop, the concert hall, or regulatory agencies. We study such cultures of research and innovation in a radically interdisciplinary way. The classic disciplines of sociology, anthropology, history and philosophy play a constituting role. Cultural themes are historicized; historical questions are shown to have normative dimensions; and ethical issues are studied as social phenomena. Analysis typically moves among different levels (from micro-level studies of local practices to macro-level questions of governance, policy and morality). MUSTS research is adventurous in exploring theoretical and empirical fault lines, but it is always rigorous in its methodological approach, theoretical grounding, and scholarly justifications. |
Main research themes
Practices of Collaborative Research and Innovation
Research and innovation have never been solitary efforts, but instead have long required complex constellations of actors and institutions to work together. In this sub-theme we examine how these collaborations are organized to produce and adapt research (“know-what”) and innovation (“know-how”).
For more information about this theme, please visit the research themes webpage.
Networks of Knowledge Production and Consumption
Scientific theories rely on networks of humans, practices and things in order to gain traction. In line with the internationalist and universalist ambitions of late-modern science, these networks increasingly span the globe.
For more information about this theme, please visit the research themes webpage.
Embodied Expertise in Art, Science and Medicine
Developing expertise in domains such as art, music, science, engineering and medicine, whether as an individual or a group, has always been an embodied process of learning amidst technologies.
For more information about this theme, please visit the research themes webpage.
MUSTS studies the relations between science, technology and society, focusing in particular on Cultures of Research and Innovation.
Research themes:
- Practices of Collaborative Research and Innovation
- Networks of Knowledge Production and Consumption
- Embodied Expertise in Art, Science and Medicine
News
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The 2024 Turriano Prize from ICOHTEC (the International Committee for the History of Technology) was awarded to Jacob Ward’s book Visions of a Digital Nation (MIT Press, 2024). The Turriano Prize recognises the best first book by an historian of technology.
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Max Boutell and Sharon Anyango will work on separate projects on the role adaptive architects in the neoliberal turn, and on gender expectations of Somali and Eritrean refugees in the Netherlands.
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How do people interact with each other on social media and other online platforms? How do they end up in conflict? And most importantly: how can we prevent these discussions from escalating? PhD candidate Maud Oostindie is researching these questions. On top of that, she is the new ‘Face of Science’...
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Failure is part of life, but not something academics talk about often. In this interview, Vincent Lagendijk discusses the failure to find a publisher for his book. Why is this such an intricate process and is there any hope?
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Anna Harris has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant of €2 million for her project ‘The Upcycled Clinic: A global ethnography of material creativity in contemporary medicine’. The project addresses the escalating issue of clinical waste.
