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Engaging science with commercial partners: the (dating) stages of a (lasting) relationship
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Resumo(s)
Engaging with commercial partners is increasingly
required by public science funding agencies and encouraged by
government officials. Reasons for this shift include alleviating the
strain on government science budgets and opening up possibilities
for scientists to secure jobs in private companies. Universities have
also begun to advocate for strategies and policies that facilitate
commercial collaborations. Similarly, there is interest—although
still scattered in Portugal—among the business sector to look for
‘‘something different’’ in order to prepare for the complex problems
that await in an uncertain future. This essay addresses the process of
gaining entr´ee to a major Portuguese food retailer by making use of
the metaphors of flirting and dating. The slow process of engagement
with this retailer is described, in particular a two-day ‘‘backstage’’ visit
of its food retail operations. During these interactions the challenges
of commercial–science collaborations with regard to differing expectations and objectives—in areas such as trust issues; confidentiality
agreements; integrity of scientific objectives versus
the pressures of market-driven organizations; the different nature
and uses of information—are unveiled. The disparate conceptions
of time and output delivery, together with the different
rhythms of making business and making science, are discussed.
To conclude, the ‘‘dating’’ and ‘‘flirting’’ stages of the relationship
between social researchers and food retailers reflect a slow
process that involves diplomatic skills, open minds, and the
constant juggling of ‘‘familiar’’ and ‘‘unfamiliar’’ ways of thinking
and doing.
Descrição
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Contexto Educativo
Citação
Truninger, M. (2015). Engaging science with commercial partners: the (dating) stages of a (lasting) relationship. Gastronomica: the journal of critical food studies, 15(3), 40–46. doi: 10.1525/gfc.2015.15.3.40
Editora
University of California Press