Interdisciplinarity: How to catalyse collaboration.
Editor´s Choice Publication
Turn the fraught flirtation between the social and biophysical sciences into fruitful partnerships with these five principles, urge Rebekah R. Brown, Ana Deletic and Tony H. F. Wong.
An urgent push to bridge the divide between the biophysical and the social sciences is crucial. It is the only way to drive global sustainable development that delivers social inclusion, environmental sustainability and economic prosperity1. Sustainability is the classic ‘wicked’ problem2, characterized by poorly defined requirements, unclear boundaries and contested causes that no single agency or discipline is able to address3.
It is crucial to understand, then, why so many well-meaning attempts at interdisciplinary collaboration fail to deliver tangible outcomes — and why others succeed. Here we offer an unapologetically personal answer by reflecting on how, working across multiple faculties of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, we have built a team of disciplinary experts that delivers integrated and sustainable water management across multiple cities.
Brown RR, Deletic A, Wong TH. Interdisciplinarity: How to catalyse collaboration.Nature. 2015 Sep 17;525(7569):315-7. doi: 10.1038/525315a. PubMed PMID: 26381970.
Tropical rainforest, Queensland, Australia. Photo by Dr. Rohan Davis.
Analytical equipment. Photo by Atanas G. Atanasov.
Hep-2 signal activated cells. Image by Dr. Vassilis Doucas.
Flower blossoms at gardens by the bay Singapore-photo by Dr. Hemanth Kumar Boyina.
Saffron plants, Zapponeta (Foggia), South of Italy. Photo by Dr. Grazia D'Onofrio.
Blood cells colored with fluorescence dye. Photo by Dr. Davide Barreca.
The Botanical Garden of Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Vienna, Austria. Photo by Atanas G. Atanasov.
Lagoon of the seven cities, a twin lake in the crater of a dormant volcano in the western part of the São Miguel island (Azores, Portugal). Photo by Dr. Ana Sanches Silva.
Central Australian desert scene. Photo by Dr. Rohan Davis.
HEK293T cells. Photo by Atanas G. Atanasov.
Tropical rainforest, Queensland, Australia. Photo by Dr. Rohan Davis.
Australian ocean scene. Photo by Dr. Rohan Davis.
Laboratory equipment. Photo by Atanas G. Atanasov.
Rhododendron arboreum flower. Photo by Devesh Tewari.
The Valley of Flowers, Himalaya, India. Photo by Dr. Rajeshwari Singh.
Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA. Photo by Dr. Anupam Bishayee.
Euphorbia prolifera Buch. (Ham) Ex. Photo by Devesh Tewari.
Foothills of Himalaya, India. Photo by Devesh Tewari.
The Valley of Flowers, Himalaya, India. Photo by Dr. Rajeshwari Singh.
Eco-School Festival, Leiria-Portugal, Spring 2018
Polygonum maritimum (L.) (Polygonaceae)- Ourdania beach (Ain Temouchent- west Algeria)- taken by PhD. EL HACI Imad Abdelhamid
Flower blossoms at gardens by the bay Singapore-photo by Dr. Hemanth Kumar Boyina.
Keywords: interdisciplinarity, how to catalyse collaboration, interdisciplinary collaboration.
