Fiction Meets Science Research Network

Speakers

  • Prof. Dr. Uwe Schimank, Sociology, Universität Bremen,
  • Prof. Dr. Anton Kirchhofer, Institute for English and American Studies, Literary and Cultural Studies, Universität Oldenburg

Duration

1.1.2023 until 31.12.2025

Members of the Core Group

Dr. Anna Auguscik (University of Oldenburg), Prof. Dr. Martin Butler (University of Oldenburg), Prof. Dr. Sina Farzin (University of the Armed Forces, Munich), Susan M. Gaines (independent writer, Bremen/ California, USA), Pippa Goldschmidt (independent writer, Edinburgh, UK/ Berlin), Prof. Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge (German Institute of Development and Sustainability, Bonn), Prof. Dr. Norbert Schaffeld (University of Bremen), Prof. Dr. Keir Waddington (University of Cardiff, UK), Prof. Dr. Peter Weingart (University of Bielefeld), Prof. Dr. Martin Willis (University of Cardiff, UK).

Associate Members

  • Dr. Kim Hofschröer (Universität Bremen)
  • Krutika Patri (Universität Bremen)

Background

The founding members of the Fiction Meets Science (FMS) Research Project came together in 2011 and 2012 to conceptualise a set of pioneering research projects examining fictional representations of science from intersecting interdisciplinary angles. In addition to experimental interdisciplinary research involving literary studies and the social sciences, the research design uniquely created platforms enabling four-way dialogues between natural scientists (the ‘objects’ of novelists’ observations), novelists (the ‘objects’ of literary studies’ and sociological observations), sociologists and literary scholars.

The first successful joint grant application was funded by the VolkswagenStiftung “Schlüsselthemen” scheme starting in 2013 and a second round of funding was accorded in 2017.  FMS has produced a significant amount of publication output and achieved high national as well as international visibility. It has not only established a dynamic research network situated in northwest Germany but also gained new national and international partners for a variety of co-operations. In particular, in recent years a strong collaboration was created with colleagues at the University of Cardiff as part of the “Bremen-Cardiff University Alliance”. FMS has also been highly successful in creating a research infrastructure for emerging scholars and for postgraduate work at both the University of Bremen and the University of Oldenburg. The Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) has served as the hub for this collaborative project in all its stages, from its initiation in April 2011 to the end of the Volkswagen funding in June 2023.

The composition of the FMS group has developed dynamically, with younger members taking more active and defining roles as their careers developed, with new members joining and also some members moving to other places but maintaining their connection with FMS. While the German Northwest remains the geographical core area, the group has been spreading. Its research activities have diversified. A range of individual or smaller-scale collaborative projects are in progress or in preparation, calling for a new embracing research association.

Prospective Outputs and Spectrum of Activities

The Study Group is designed to maintain and develop further the dynamic research context that has been established over the last ten years. It aims to provide a framework facilitating and offering support for joint activities connected to the study of ‘science and narrative’ in the widest sense. This ranges from the continuation of the dialogues between natural scientists, novelists, literary scholars, and social scientists in the form of lectures, workshops and conferences to helpful discussions of new grant applications – whether individual or collaborative – by members of the group. In particular, the Study Group is committed to expanding the interdisciplinary four-way encounters – an initiative that already started in the second phase of FMS: arousing interests of researchers from additional natural science disciplines; attracting beyond novelists other writers and artists; including more social science disciplines than sociology; and extending the cultural studies and humanities beyond literary scholars. With regard to the authors, this will be ensured by maintaining and developing close intersections with the “Writers in Residence” Programme, supported by Susan M. Gaines in her role as advisor and International Author Liaison.

The Study Group will also provide a basis for continuing and developing national and international cooperations involving the universities of Bremen, Oldenburg, Cardiff, and Erlangen/Nürnberg, as well as the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut in Essen, and the College of Arts at the University of Guelph, Canada (Donald Bruce).

The Study Group will continue to provide a framework for emerging scholars by offering interdisciplinary expert feedback and support in their research projects. It will organise regular internal “work in progress” workshops (at least one per year) where ongoing projects from emerging as well as established researchers can be presented.

The Study Group will continue the two successful FMS formats of workshops:

  • Experimental Encounters, in collaboration with the “Writers in Residence” Programme. Here a particular book or – in the case of writers in residence – a book manuscript in the making is discussed from all four perspectives (author, literary scholars, social scientists, natural scientists).
  • Themed workshops on interdisciplinary topics of “science and narrative” with regional, national, and international participants., e.g. “Science and Science Communication in Times of Pandemic”, “Science and Policy Narratives”, “Science Narratives and the Laboratory: Representations, Constellations, Epistemologies”, “Econarratology”; “Energies Humanities”.

Furthermore, there will be numerous informal meetings to discuss project applications, project results, and publications.

All these activities of the Study Group serve the common purpose of driving forward a clarification process, at the end of which, after three years, the next phase of FMS will be underway, taking into account the interests and opportunities of those who wish to continue participating.