Agile by accident: how to apply Agile principles in academic research projects

Abstract

Sustainability science and sustainability transition studies are interdisciplinary fields. Interdisciplinarity is understood to support out-of-the-box thinking and thus facilitate scientific advancements. Interdisciplinary research projects dealing with complex issues might need project management approaches that support learning, adaptation, and innovation. Agile is a management approach that has been developed to facilitate collaboration, learning, creativity, innovation, and reflectivity. Due to these qualities, Agile might be a suitable approach to managing interdisciplinary research projects. Agile project management is still new in academic research settings. Only limited information about how to apply it in an academic setting exists. To fill this gap the Agile principles are translated to fit the academic context. The article then outlines how Agile principles can be applied to an academic research program, that did not consciously plan to apply this approach. The translation of the principles will permit other researchers to intentionally use them in their interdisciplinary research projects. Furthermore, other researchers can build on the insights provided in this article to overcome the challenges that Agile can bring.