Beyond discipline: Creating a culture for interdisciplinary research

Abstract

Interdisciplinary research is not a common research paradigm. To venture from their customary disciplinary tenets and methods and risk new methodological approaches, or to compromise in order to accommodate the differences in the way disciplines approach research, requires the commitment of investigators. This paper discusses the interdisciplinary research paradigm, its culture, and how it differs from traditional research methods, and provides examples of successful and unsuccessful interdisciplinary research projects.

Attributes of Interdisciplinary Research Teams: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature

“…Leaders must have credibility so they are respected, but also have the skills to mediate personalities, goals and theoretical perspectives [6]. E ective leadership results in the maintenance of e ciency and motivation through good feedback and coaching of team members and subgroups [14 24].…”

“…is cohesion promotes insight, hunches, risk-taking and experimentation, which are important aspects of scienti c investigation [6]. Cohesion has been included in team assessment tests such as the Bendaly Team Fitness Test [11].…”

“…is di ers from multidisciplinary research where researchers of various disciplines work separately on di erent aspects of a broad problem [6]. Interdisciplinary research can also be distinguished from transdisciplinary research, where researchers assimilate disciplinary-speci c theories and concepts to solve a problem, while minimizing the segregation of the various disciplines [7].…”

Research Collaboration as “Layers of Engagement”: INKE in Year Four

“…First, these results continue to reinforce the need for collaboration-ready individuals to participant in collaborations. ese people are open to differences in cognitive frameworks, professional identities, and values, and are able to compromise (Bruhn, 1995;Gold & Gold, 1985;Olson & Olson, 2000) -characteristics that are supported through collaborative processes and facilitate the important relationships. Among these, formal and informal team meetings provide opportunities for key discussions on research tasks and supporting relationships (Kishchuk, 2005;Lawrence, 2006;Poole & Zhang, 2005).…”

Making University-Industry Collaboration Work - A Case Study on the Deutsche Telekom Laboratories Contrasted with Findings in Literature

“…For universities any advance in knowledge is a result and would be regarded as a success. In industry, a marketable product is the least that is expected and only a product that is successful in the marketplace will be regarded as an overall successful execution of the R&D project [25].…”