The research topic shapes the interdisciplinary process. Both institutional and societal incentives favor the funding of research on "hot" problems over more stable, ongoing phenomena. All social research addresses social life and language in motion, but problem-based research also mobilizes an array of stakeholders, often coming together around a slogan-concept (such as cultural property) that proposes a solution for an intractable, complex situation. "Mode 2" knowledge networks around hot problems bring an unusual degree of scrutiny to academic work, while heightening the differential stances of researchers and their disciplines, turning the project itself into a hot zone. A remedy lies in setting the team to examine the common sense of the problem and its slogans as a starting point for more focused research.