The Emergence of an Interdisciplinary Scientific Community at the Science-Technology Overlap : Evidence From ‘Particle Therapy’ of Cancer

This paper explores the emergence of an interdisciplinary scientific community with reference to the mode-2 knowledge production while not neglecting science-technology overlap. It raises the following questions: How does an interdisciplinary scientific community emerge globally? What is the role played by different disciplines? What is the corresponding role of universities, companies, and government labs? The empirical study combines bibliometric and social network analyses with semi-structured interviews and analysis of key documents. It focuses on an interdisciplinary scientific community which has been emerging internationally at the cutting edge of cancer treatment: “particle therapy”. The paper identifies a continuum of disciplines between physics and oncology which become highly integrated over time. It also distinguishes between core, relevant, and pheripheral disciplines. It points out the role of different organizations as regards these disciplines and the opening up of new research avenues for the new community to emerge towards the end of the spectrum