What are the strategies for promoting interdisciplinary research and collaboration in science and technology?
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Strategies for Promoting Interdisciplinary Research and Collaboration in Science and Technology
Structural Changes in Universities to Foster Interdisciplinary Research
University Policies and Practices: Many U.S. research universities are adopting structural changes to reduce barriers to interdisciplinary research. These changes include the creation of incentive grants to initiate new interdisciplinary units, the establishment of campus-wide institutes to steer investments in interdisciplinary areas, and new modes of faculty hiring and evaluation1. These strategies aim to create an environment that encourages collaboration across traditional departmental and disciplinary boundaries.
Internal Funding Reallocation: Some universities are reallocating internal research funds to promote interdisciplinary collaboration. For example, a technical university specializing in green technology implemented a strategy that required researchers from at least two different schools within the university to participate in research platforms. This approach, while effective in promoting collaboration, also generated tensions related to resource allocation, division of labor, and scientific output7.
Cultivating Collective Creativity and Team Science
Design Thinking and Collective Creativity: At the earliest stages of research ideation, creating environments that foster collective creativity and curiosity is crucial. Design thinking offers tools and approaches that promote rich conversations and help navigate ambiguity, which are essential for team science. These strategies support loosely formed groups in brainstorming around complex problems2.
Strategic Team Science Workshops: Hands-on workshops that focus on strategic team science can promote collaboration among researchers. These workshops facilitate structured dialogue, asset sharing, and systematic exploration of collaboration opportunities. Feedback from such workshops indicates high levels of satisfaction and perceived relevance to professional development goals9.
Building Integration Across Fields
Interweaving Perspectives: Successful interdisciplinary research requires full intellectual participation from each contributing field, forming a multiway partnership. Strategies to build integration include interweaving perspectives in research foci, regular interaction at the working level, and interconnecting knowledge and ideas throughout the research process. Leadership that enables contributions from multiple fields and empowers interdisciplinary synthesis is also crucial3.
Learning to Collaborate: Interdisciplinary research teams often face challenges for which they may be under-prepared. Viewing collaborations as spaces with epistemic, social, symbolic, spatial, and temporal dimensions can help in systematically understanding these challenges. Creating conditions for learning to collaborate, such as paying attention to discomfort as a trigger for learning, can enhance collaborative capacities and support the ambitious goals of interdisciplinary research8.
Developing Effective Team Dynamics
Trust and Communication: Trust is a critical factor for the success of interdisciplinary teams. Developing a shared vision, strategically identifying team members, promoting healthy disagreement while containing conflict, and setting clear expectations for sharing credit and authorship are essential. Effective leadership and strong communication skills are also vital for managing team dynamics and supporting the science at the center of the effort6.
Frameworks for Team Development: Few frameworks exist to guide the development of cohesive interdisciplinary teams. A participatory process of inter-relational reflexivity can help in reflecting upon interdisciplinary research and proposing best-practice frameworks for sustained collaboration effectiveness4.
Conclusion
Promoting interdisciplinary research and collaboration in science and technology requires a multifaceted approach. Structural changes in universities, fostering collective creativity, building integration across fields, developing effective team dynamics, and creating frameworks for team development are all critical strategies. By implementing these strategies, institutions can create environments that support and sustain interdisciplinary research, ultimately leading to innovative solutions to complex problems.
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Most relevant research papers on this topic
‘Interdisciplinary strategies’ in U.S. research universities
Interdisciplinary strategies in U.S. research universities include incentive grants, campus-wide institutes, and new faculty hiring and evaluation methods to spur collaborative research across traditional departmental and disciplinary boundaries.
Highly CitedThe “Inter” Within Interdisciplinary Research: Strategies for Building Integration Across Fields
Successful interdisciplinary research involves full intellectual participation by each contributing field, resulting in innovative insights and complex questions.
Fostering Learning and Reciprocity in Interdisciplinary Research
This paper proposes a framework for sustained effectiveness of interdisciplinary collaboration through inter-relational reflexivity.
Researching Collaborative Interdisciplinary Teams
Navigating positionality in collaborative interdisciplinary research can advance understanding and practice, benefiting both science and technology studies.
Collaboration and Team Science
Successful scientific collaborations are characterized by trust, shared vision, strategic team building, disagreement, conflict management, and clear expectations for sharing credit and authorship.
Observational StudyHighly CitedInternally Incentivized Interdisciplinarity: Organizational Restructuring of Research and Emerging Tensions
Internally incentivizing interdisciplinarity through research platforms may generate tensions and shallow interactions, highlighting potential limits on the value of promoting interdisciplinarity through internal funding.
Learning to collaborate while collaborating: advancing interdisciplinary sustainability research
Learning to collaborate while collaborating can enhance interdisciplinary sustainability research by addressing challenges and cultivating collaborative capacities.
Literature ReviewHighly CitedStrategic Team Science Promotes Collaboration and Practice-Based Research at the Research Centers in Minority Institutions
Strategic team science workshops effectively promote collaboration and practice-based research among investigators at Research Centers in Minority Institutions.
University Interdisciplinary Research Organizations in the Process of Collaborative Innovation: Advantages, Difficulties and Strategies
Interdisciplinary research organizations in universities can benefit from collaborative innovation by targeting frontier science, national development needs, and establishing effective operating mechanisms.
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