Creating and maintaining an effective interdisciplinary research team

Abstract

Any one area of interdisciplinary research is ephemeral: it either fails, or succeeds in solving a particular problem, or it expands until it develops into a new orthodoxy. As a style of tackling intractable problems it has unique value, but the costs can be high —both to individuals and to managers of R&D. It is the perceived costs that raise difficulties for managers wishing to implement interdisciplinary research. For success, the situation requiring an interdisciplinary approach must be so perceived by all involved and they must believe that the requirement will last for some years. Because it is a high risk activity where those taking part may find difficulty in returning to the mainstream of research, the rewards must be higher. The total benefits must be thought worthwhile both for those paying for the research, and for those who carry it out. The present paper discusses when interdisciplinary research should be adopted, how to make it work, and how to cope with some problems it creates.

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