How do you inspire interdisciplinary research?

This suggestion—identification of common goals, and the specific methods of how to do so—is correct, overall. And the good news is that even though it might sound somewhat (or *very*) daunting, it actually isn’t—or doesn’t have to be. To support that latter argument above—that discovering and formalizing study-methods for shared (interdisciplinary) interests/topics, consider an example from my own experience. To date, my biggest interdisciplinary project was a study for a paper titled: “Are You Listening Doc?” In that study, I—as an assistant-prof of communication at FHSU, KS—teamed up with a colleague from the nursing studies department. And how did we meet? Answer: at the new faculty orientation!

I do believe that setting common goals is the key to successful interdisciplinary research. Being specialized in Healthcare Informatics, the main challenge I face is dealing with different perceptions and perspectives of various stakeholders. Focusing on the deliverables makes convergence much easier.

Sharing the thoughts over a tea with a interdepartmental researchers will be the initial key to merge with the thoughts of different personality can lead to lot of new beginnings.

The scenario of research has been changed in last decade. Due to the technological revolution, BIG data , AI and Machine learning came into existence with high computing power, changed the way of good research. Now people are more towards E Commerce & AI, healthcare & AI, Optimization Research & Machine learning, Decision making & Deep Learning, Image processing & Machine learning so on. That is most of business houses integrate with Data Analytics for their CRM & SCM. One has to be open ended to do the research in multidisciplinary scenario. Domain knowledge with IT solution is the new avenues for research.

Igniting interdisciplinary research hinges on identifying common goals. Seek shared objectives that bridge disciplines. Collaborators align efforts toward a broader purpose. A common goal fosters cohesion, mutual understanding, and synergy. Interdisciplinary success emerges when diverse expertise converges toward a unifying mission, generating innovative solutions to complex challenges.

One of the challenges is often that tenure and promotion boards look at interdisciplinary research through a disciplinary lens at times. So I do agree that there has to be some education given to faculty about the importance of and need for more interdisciplinary work. Being a professor in an interdisciplinary doc program there is a great opportunity for innovation through interdisciplinary research, but universities will have to be more open to change.

I would rather change the question. Research has no "discipline" but the available tools and means specify methods and techniques. Having said that I must add that it is up to the curiosity of the researcher to overcome (extend?) a technique.

Encouraging interdisciplinary research involves providing incentives and support. Offer grants, funding, and awards for collaborative projects. Facilitate networking events, workshops, and platforms for idea exchange. Foster a culture that values diverse perspectives and rewards teamwork. By creating an environment that recognizes and nurtures interdisciplinary efforts, researchers are motivated to collaborate, yielding groundbreaking insights and innovations.

Connecting diverse interests through grants can create interesting partnerships. As a young Dean, I developed an opportunity to collaborate with the library and a series of faculty lecturers on the role of music throughout US history. We presented a series of events on a specific musical style, comparing and contrasting with various societal movements through live lectures, films distributed by NEH, history professors, and student performers. It raised the profile of college as a whole, and by working together, we succeeded in promoting the talents of our students as well.

Since my focus is undergraduate research, I like to show student success as incentive for these approaches. Students that have publications are far more likely to get into medical/graduate schools over those that do not. This provides a distinct advantage in the competition of life. As for support I think it is important to show these students that you are their #1 fan. All my research students have my cell number and are encouraged to text me questions at all times of the day. The act of being there and supporting them with advice is the best thing we can do. Choice is always theirs to make, our role is to offer advice and experience to help them be successful.

Cultivating interdisciplinary research involves fostering a learning culture. Encourage continuous learning across fields. Promote seminars, cross-disciplinary workshops, and knowledge sharing. Embrace curiosity and open-mindedness. Inspire researchers to explore beyond their expertise. A culture of intellectual exploration nurtures collaboration, pushing boundaries, and propelling transformative interdisciplinary discoveries.

I totally agree. There are opportunities, but 'research engines' must realize what design thinking did years ago. We get further ahead faster by having multiple domains look at difficult problems together. Why? Each discipline's view, and approach to issues is often different; adding to the questions and curiosity's lens.

Developing interdisciplinary courses and workshops became a necessity. We should make use of Artificial Intelligence to create an innovative learning environment for skills transfer and knowledge exchange.

I'm continually amazed at the knowledge available in this information age, but it can be hard to process and comprehend, especially when it's outside my field. I look for workshops and short articles as a "way in" to understand concepts outside my field. Once I have a foundation, I can begin to build on it and eventually offer my unique perspective.

To achieve this goal you must understand the people you work with and engage each individual in a unique way that will inspire them to personally succeed. Team building events are key. I often host events outside of the research lab to help them come together and bond. My latest example is hosting an outside movie party for my research assistants. I also bought them all matching t-shirts from the movie experience. This did a lot to bring them together, to work as a team.

We at the Management as a Liberal Art Research Institute seek to do just that. Peter Drucker was concerned with these issues decades ago.

There should be a regulatory framework that includes both guidelines and practices to be followed in order to ensure that research is conducted according to ethical values.

Promoting interdisciplinary research involves addressing ethical and practical issues. Identify potential challenges early - data sharing, authorship, funding distribution. Establish clear guidelines and protocols. Encourage open conversations to mitigate conflicts. Prioritizing ethical conduct and pragmatic solutions creates a secure foundation. Researchers collaborate confidently, knowing that ethical standards and practical considerations are upheld, fostering successful interdisciplinary endeavors.

I have found rallying research thinking around common humanitarian developent need a strong agent of building interdisciplinary research. Researchers are humans with feelings and arousing their humane and focusing on a given humanitarian need brings them together to build a working solution to challenges. More oftentimes researchers are treated as machines driven by internally-wired programmatic systems which are not influenced by humanitarian needs, needs which solutions depend on multi-sectoral approaches. This is the reason we in humanitarian developent are now building Multi-Sectoral Alliances of Stakeholders in modelling interventions. We believe this inter/multidisciplinary research approach is the panacea to many human challenges.

Inspiring interdisciplinary research involves celebrating diversity and creativity. Embrace varied backgrounds, perspectives, and approaches. Encourage unconventional thinking. Highlight successes that arise from diverse collaborations. Cultivate an environment where different viewpoints are valued. By celebrating diversity and fostering creative exchange, researchers are empowered to transcend disciplinary boundaries, driving innovative solutions to complex challenges.

I believe you inspire interdisciplinary research among different disciplines by modeling collaborative behaviors. Think about your own circle of colleagues. Are your colleagues of different professions? Do you on a regular basis contact other professions to ask questions or attend their department or association meetings? These are just a couple of ideas on how to encourage interactions among professionals with different training backgrounds.

You also need to make sure that all team members have a stake in the outcome and are all part of the decision making process. Everyone needs to feel valued and heard on the team. This helps people feel like they have a valuable stake in the outcome of your endeavor.

A clear understanding and being able to identify what the transferable skills would be across disciplines is helpful for research. An example of identifying the skill can be shown in sports. Say that someone likes running and is a good runner as well. Excellent running can be applied to many sports. This skill transfers to track, soccer, football, baseball, etc. Finding the particular skill that can be utilized and doing that skill well is crucial.

Sometimes, specialisms can become personal fortresses. It's advisable, that before going into inter - disciplinary research, that participants foster an open minded approach to new contexts, directions, suggestions, questions or ideas, and use the opportunity to reevaluate and reformat. Sharing and openness, sometimes contrary to academic research and creative endeavour, should be the way forward.