Nowadays, we should emphasize on a new approach to knowledge organization is better suited to a contemporary academy characterized by an increased emphasis on interdisciplinarity. Do you agree?
Thanks so much dear Angel and Prof Parisa Ziarati
Very interesting discussion as we all experience it for Covid-19.
Yes dear Dr Shabnam!, This pandemic has pushed us / and also some organizations and Governments to rethink our own health, both physically and mentally, as scientists work on a way to end this pandemic. Although the future is uncertain, one thing is for sure: No one discipline can solve this problem.
Interdisciplinary research and study allows for generation of novel ideas and getting benefit from many different disciplines. With the complexity of the modern science and technology, many social problems and scientific research programs cannot be solved by one discipline, as a result, interdisciplinary research has become an essential model of contemporary science.
In my opinion, interdisciplinary research and study have other benefits besides solving modern and complex scientific problems. For example, working on an interdisciplinary subject would increase the communication skills between experts from different majors, to each other. This will be required by learning different definitions and concepts from the various territories of science. And consequently, having mutual language and new tools for thinking(words as Sigmund Freud said) would lead us to have a new generation of explorations and breakthroughs in science.
Yes! Interdisciplinary research is the in-thing. Collaborating with Engineers, economists and health care personnel from hospitals has added new frontier to my publications. The value of the article is enhanced. The readership is increased and the citation count is encouraging. In production microbial biotechnology especially pharmaceutical micro-biotechnology, all these disciplines hold their own very strongly and such collaboration is recommended.
Dear @Parisa Ziarati Many landmark discovery has been achieved through interdisciplinary research. For instance, Gregor Mendel could not have deciphered the inheritance of biological traits without using mathematics in biology.
Yes. Interdisciplinary reseach brings together the expertise of several researchers from diverse fields on the topic of research at hand and makes the outcome much richer.
One can not be expected to be expert in all the fields, for achieving robust investigative results, interdisciplinery research need to be encouraged. Ground breaking results are achieved through interdisciplinery research. Many examples are there in agriculture, medicine and pharma sectors.
Dear Ahrari, thank you for sharing this excellent question.
I agree with Prof. Ziarati.
With kind regards..
It is totally true. Indeed, Interdisciplinary research discovers the value of integrating the study of various academic disciplines suited to their life-long interests, therefore, with the help of scholars in different fields several challenges are being tackled. A salient example of this situation is the application of in silico approaches and machine learning which have become prevalent in different arenas including the food and pharmaceutical sectors, benefiting tremendously from these state-of-the-art subjects.
Interdisciplinary research is helpful in providing solutions to today's challenging problems such as mitigation of climate change and control of pandemic.
Arvind Singh - Yes you are right - we do need interdisciplinary efforts. However these are hard to do and even harder to get supported. The great success of research is creating increasing amounts of knowledge and of technical complexity. These twin factors drive specialization in order to stay current and to be able to contribute accurate new knowledge. There are few scientists who can go outside their areas of expertise and have the depth of understanding needed for rigorous trans-disciplinary efforts. Although cross-disciplinary efforts are often praised by funding agencies and by scientists, in practice they are more often criticized than supported. Each area of expertise only pays attention to and weights the value of their single area, which then often falls short in comparison to competing efforts that focus only on the one area of research. It takes vision by agency administrators to fund interdisciplinary efforts and rare scientists who can achieve them effectively.
Take a look at this potentially useful RG link.
Article The urgent need for integrated science to fight COVID-19 pan...
Yes there might be new inventions possible and this has been seen earlier and even in the present time this is possible to come up with a complete new invention and I support to this statement
Interdisciplinary approach is the order of the day unlike a couple of decdes back when one would rigidly concentrate on his own field of research. However, over a period of time, it has been made amply clear that there are no boundaries between disciplines. Integrated approach for example in an EIA presents a better understanding than single approach. This has been gaining a lot of importance in the present day which is the right approach.
The attached picture says it all. The quote is from:
John Bardeen who was born on this day (23rd May) in 1908 and received the Physics Prize in 1956 and 1972. * In 1956, for the discovery of the transistor effect; and * In 1972, for developing the theory of superconductivity.
Let me philosophize a little.
Someone correctly noted that large teams are disastrous for initial ideas. Is interdisciplinary research detrimental to the initial idea of "fighting the pandemic"? I think “yes”. I am sure that first, within the framework of one discipline (let it be a meta-discipline), it is necessary to understand what and how it includes and supports the activity of a non – living virus in the body and in the environment. Further, this understanding will allow you to organize a focused interdisciplinary study. Otherwise, it will be impossible to say unequivocally how many and which disciplines should participate in this study.
Is it true that "no discipline can solve this problem"? I don't think so. Here the problem is ideological. If a discipline uses a disciplinary version of the methodology of some scientific approach, then most likely it will not be able to solve this problem. But if the discipline embodies an appropriate approach, then it will most likely be able to solve this problem. At the very least, it will form a program of effective interdisciplinary scientific research. You can read about it here:
Very important to identify purely specialised research in 2021 where quantum mechanics like superspecialised area can be merged with sociology / philosophy .Working Paper Quantum Sociology
https://theconversation.com/a-new-quantum-paradox-throws-the-foundations-of-observed-reality-into-question-144426
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Do_You_like_Specialized_Research_or_Interdisciplinary_Research
I do not know who said, "We can not imagine a smile without a face," but nature acts like the term. All the elements of nature are interconnected, and to explain a phenomenon we need to know how other elements behave. Interdisciplinary research helps us to understand the behavioral mechanisms of one variable in relation to other variables. Thus, interdisciplinary research leads to a true understanding of a phenomenon and its related variables.
Yes, I agree with that. In my case i teach in the medical university I need the combination of medical knowledge and education. I have do many interdiscriplinary researchs!
Definitely. The entire focus of research is to find out innovative solutions of problems which are better than existing approaches. Inter-disciplinary research helps to explore and find solutions from different domains which are seemingly un-related and hence has the potential to provide novel avenues to tackle problems. Major examples include natural language processing and medical imaging. Sometimes this also generates new ways of processing information that leads to better conveniences and facilities, for example, augmented reality and virtual reality, which has combined concepts from gaming, 3-D graphics, education and entertainment to provide applications for video surveillance, airport navigation and crowd tracking.
Interdisciplinary relationships constitute a way that makes it possible to improve the processes and the training of professionals, taking into account that technical scientific development moves towards levels of greater integration.
Yes, I do. Interdisciplinarity has huge value. But there are many academics and researchers, who by their education, skills and interests will never never be interdisciplinary. Also certain narrow scientific journals will not encourage them to be more interdisciplinary.
I use already the interdisciplinary approach in my researches. As an example, you can see this preprint:
"On the issue of assessing the effectiveness of Air Defense based on a pandemic model." https://easychair.org/publications/preprint_open/kLWP
Completamente de acuerdo. Para resolver de forma efectiva los problemas importantes actuales como son el cambio climático, el desarrollo sostenible, el desarrollo de tecnologías amigables con el ambiente; es necesario involucrar a muchos actores de diferentes disciplinas.
Interdisciplinary research should not restrict to only science but should intermingle science with humanities discipline e.g agronomy can be blended with agri extension or any rural development course so as to have better and effective intrusion of new tech and practices among farmers.
Dear Parisa Ziarati,
Yes I agree. In recent years, the importance of interdisciplinarity has been increasing, both in terms of research and the formulation of new fields of study and more interdisciplinary education of students.
Regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
Interdisciplinary is vital especially in the recent years with the covid impact in almost every industry and sector. Whether it's in academic, science or practical applications - interdisciplinary does play an important role to solved the big problem. So is multidisciplinary - I'm coming out with the book title "Social impact for E-payment and Blockchain Technology" that cover the political, economical, social, technological, legal, environmental (PESTLE). Interesting!
Dear Parisa Ziarati,
Thank you for starting this interesting discussion. I fully agree, the new developments indifferent scientific areas support Interdisciplinary research. Many factors play an important role in pushing this approach in last few years. One example is the fight against the pandemic, which stimulated researchers in different areas to gather their efforts in order to cover the various aspects of surviving COVID. Many researchers also started to advertise interdisciplinary research as the new way that leads to notable breakthroughs, for example:
https://ascpt.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cts.12330
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02508281.2020.1761120
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8285142/
Yes, interdisciplinary research is very important in the current interdisciplinary global scenario.
Surely, Interdisciplinary Research is very important at the current time.
Dear Parisa Ziarati,
I agree, interdisciplinary research has always been important to science. Especially today, I would say that interdisciplinary research is necessary for the progress of Science, providing an essential communication between different research fields. So, the keyword for interdisciplinary research is the communication-bridge that transforms the borders to porous between the disciplines, allowing ideas' exchange.
I think Interdisciplinary study allows for synthesis of ideas and the synthesis of characteristics from many disciplines. At the same time it addresses students' individual differences and helps to develop important, transferable skills. See the link: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/what-are-the-benefits-interdisciplinary-study
Also, it expanding student understanding and achievement between all disciplines or enhancing communication skills, See the link: https://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai
Moreover, see the following link: https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.dartmouth.edu/dist/f/2053/files/2018/12/Gill_ClinTrans_2015-15b624j.pdf
Interdisciplinary research is result of novel findings and advanced innovations and tech in the field of science.
The importance of interdisciplinary research should be reflective in designing school assignments for students by academicians, which is the need of the hour. In order to make the B-school students learn industry oriented skills through practical application of concepts, the need is that academicians belonging to different field specialisation should sit together and design a single assignment for your students.
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines “Interdisciplinary” as:
“Involving two or more academic, scientific, or artistic disciplines”.
So perhaps the best place to start in thinking about the benefits of interdisciplinary study is to first consider the nature of disciplines. It is worth remembering that many academic disciplines are ‘constructions’ themselves, that they have been developed by people working in a particular field and that they offer a particular focus of knowledge. When we consider interdisciplinary learning (and teaching), we are working across boundaries of knowledge and creating new knowledge from various sources.
C.P. Snow famously talked of “two cultures” in the sciences and arts with a ‘gulf of mutual incomprehension’ (Snow, 1965) between the two. Each ‘sect’ saw their own disciplines as being superior in their contribution to humanity and believed that disciples of the other were only able to engage with ideas from their own field of expertise. It is, perhaps, in this debate that we can see how distinctions between ‘disciplines’ emerge – disciples or followers fight for their belief in the ‘truths’ associated with their way of seeing and experiencing the world.
The term discipline implies both this idea of a subject which has disciples or followers and a discipline which forces a particular way of seeing the world and behaving in it. Writing about the discipline of education itself, for example, Bridges suggests that: ‘Discipline meant that enquiry was conducted in accordance with some established rules and procedures which provided the basis for among other things distinguishing truth from falsity, warranted from unwarranted belief. The requirement for disciplined enquiry became translated into the ‘disciplines’ which embodied such enquiry.’ (Bridges, 2004)
Holley identifies ‘three variations of knowledge production that extend across disciplinary boundaries …cross-disciplinarity, multidisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity’. (Holley, 2009)
- Cross–disciplinarity is where related disciplines come together to address a problem which evades study from a single epistemological standpoint. For example, sociologists ‘borrowed’ the tools of ethnography from anthropologists in order to develop knowledge and understanding about the behaviour of ‘tribes’ within mainstream societies.
- Multidisciplinarity is where two or more disciplines collaborate for a specific purpose, for instance when computer scientists, psychologists and sociologists cooperate in the design of human/computer interfaces.
- Holley (ibid) links the concept of transdisciplinarity to Gibbons’ (1994) ideas of Mode 2 knowledge which ‘encourages cooperative interaction between scholars and practitioners’. (Holley, op cit)
These can all be seen as versions of interdisciplinarity, but for simplicity we can think of interdisciplinary study being when students are encouraged to integrate and compare the approaches, insights and methods between two or more disciplines as part of the curriculum. Multidisciplinary study in contrast is when a student studies across different disciplines but no formal connections are made between the subjects a student chooses to study.
These books as I am attaching are real examples of interdisciplinary approach
Interdisciplinary research is important because it encourages creativity and promotes important contributions in fields other than one’s own expertise. In addition to creativity, it also enhances critical thinking skills to compare and contrast perspectives from various disciplines. Interdisciplinary research and study allows for generation of novel ideas and getting benefit from many different disciplines. It allows for synthesis of ideas and the synthesis of characteristics from many disciplines. At the same time, it addresses students’ individual differences and helps to develop important, transferable skills.
My point of view is that interdisciplinary research teams are an absolute advantage when it comes to innovation. Specialists know very well what is possible now but usually need help from other points of view to move on to imagine what will be possible in the future.
Monodisciplinary research is nowadays almost static. However, interdisciplinary research is increasingly becoming dynamic, engulfing the differences inherent in disciplines, and rendering itself as the ultimate order of the day
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