"This research project studies how social skill - defined as the ability to induce cooperation in others - is enacted in inter-organizational meetings. It does so through the lens of communication theory and by using a combination of conversation analysis and narrative analysis as methods. The observed meetings are conceptualized as ""governance units"" of the field that the inter-organizational collaboration (IOC) constitutes so that social skill can be linked to the governance of inter-organizational fields.The fellow will be hosted by the Dept. of Communication at the University of Montreal which is internationally known for its Montreal School of Organizational Communication, a key pillar of the proposed research. By acquiring theoretical knowledge and analytical skills at this approach which sees communication as constitutive of organization (CCO approach), the fellow will contribute to the currently flourishing debate about this approach among organizational scholars in Europe. The fellowship will help the fellow develop his career to the level of an assistant professor and it will strengthen existing links between the European and Canadian hosts.The combination of field theory with the CCO approach is an original and innovative endeavour which will contribute to the existing knowledge of the governance of IOCs by focusing on a previously neglected aspect, namely social skill and it's enactment through communication.While social skill is relevant in any collaboration, it is particularly salient in the inter-organizational domain because actors have less organizational structures and routines to rely on in their collaboration. Studying social skill in inter-organizational meetings is thus highly relevant in a world where much depends on the joint effort of multiple organizations while the competition between organizations also increases. Multi-level governace systems like the EU are but one example of where social skill is needed to make others cooperate."