Keeping BioLabs ‘Alive’: Understanding the Work of Biodesign Lab Managers

Abstract As the field of biodesign has grown, so has the number of spaces dedicated to biodesign practice. However, little attention has been paid to the ongoing efforts of those who keep these spaces functioning on a day-to-day basis. Based on tour-and-interviews with 19 biodesign lab managers (LMs) across European biodesign laboratories (BioLabs), this paper aims to develop an initial understanding of what biodesign LMs’ everyday work entails. The findings highlight three key dimensions of biodesign LMs’ work and surface how they hold together the interdisciplinary and emergent nature of the biodesign field. In this respect, keeping BioLabs ‘alive’ also entails maintaining conditions under which biodesign LMs themselves can effectively perform their roles. This study contributes to better supporting, communicating, acknowledging, and making resilient the current, emerging and future BioLabs and professionals in similar roles, as well as to open up new opportunities for biodesign research.