Where does an Inclination towards Science come from? Tracing the Early Beginnings of Exploratory Behavior in Autobiographical Narratives of Researchers in Science and the Humanities. An Interview-based Study of the Biographical Roots and Motivations behind Personal Interest in Scientific Subjects.

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Andreas Franzmann
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2016 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 283590036

Recent debates about the difficulties facing science in attracting young talent has raised lots of questions. How can we understand educational processes in which children´s curiosity becomes more detailed and concrete? Under which conditions does exploratory behavior establish itself and become self-stimulating and self-encouraging? This project´s approach deals with biographies of scientists as paradigmatic cases with the intention of reconstructing the biographical beginnings of their early intellectual interests in puzzles and inquiry-based practices using in-depth interviews and group discussions. The thesis is: The formation of an inclination towards science is driven by a private fascination with objects of interest. What causes such a fascination individually, how does it emerge? Not only does encouragement and formal success in school seem to be important, but also interactions with family and peer groups, through which a personal self-identity evolves from an identification with scientific matters. Interviewees will be asked for their earliest intellectual interests in subjects. Which activities and attendant circumstances can they remember? The interviews will be conducted with 27 scientists from seven disciplines including Physics, Geology, Biochemistry, Ethology as well as Islamic Studies, Economic History and Sociology. In addition, group discussions with students and postgraduates will be held to compare the successive stages of a candidate´s professional self-identity and the development of their autobiographical interpretative patterns.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants