Understanding knowledge transfer activities at a research institution through semi-structured interviews

Abstract

Project IKON aims to explore potentials for transferring knowledge generated in research projects at a major Berlin research institution, the Museum für Naturkunde (MfN, natural history museum). Knowledge transfer concerns both the exchange of knowledge among the employees (researchers as well as communicators or management staff), and with the broader public. IKON as a research project coincides with a continuous effort by the research institution to open itself up in terms of its activities and stored knowledge. To understand the specific requirements of IKON, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 5 employees of varying positions (researchers, management staff, employees) at the research institution. Our questions were conceived to understand: (1) what unites individual perspectives of knowledge transfer; (2) by whom and through which means (i.e., actors and infrastructures) is knowledge transfer carried out; (3) where relations between actors and infrastructures in the current state of knowledge transfer need support or intervention. From our results, we infer high-level implications for the design of an application that can support employees of the MfN in (1) collaborating with each other and (2) conceptualize Knowledge Transfer Activities based on semantically related research projects.