New Interdisciplinary Short Guide published

Dr Catherine Lyall, Professor Robin Williams and Dr Laura Meagher have produced A Short Guide to Developing Interdisciplinary Strategies for Research Groups, one of a series of guides on interdisciplinary research. Here is an excerpt:

'Disciplines confer many advantages, not least by placing boundaries around bodies of knowledge which facilitates efficient teaching and provides guidance about adequate concepts and methodologies. Quality can often be more readily tested against disciplinary criteria. Set against this, there is increasing recognition of the advantages of interdisciplinary approaches.

The world of policy and practice transcends disciplinary divides; tackling research challenges which address complex problems necessitates a change to traditional discipline-based research strategies. But effective interdisciplinary working does not simply happen. As well as the obvious barriers to communication between different specialisms, interdisciplinary research may encounter institutional barriers – departmental structures, management systems and career pathways that are often based around disciplines. These challenges need to be managed if individual researchers and centres are to build effective and successful programmes of interdisciplinary research.'

The full guide is available to download Short Guide to Developing Interdisciplinary Strategies for Research Groups (PDF 77.5 KB)

The rest of the Interdisciplinary Research Short Guides are available to download from the publications section.

For additional information, or to request printed copies, please contact Dr Catherine Lyall.