Interdisciplinary research
Research that integrates approaches, methods, or knowledge from multiple academic disciplines to address a question or problem.
Disciplinary integration: The process of combining concepts, methods, or findings from different academic disciplines. It names the central intellectual work that distinguishes interdisciplinary research from parallel disciplinary contributions.
Multidisciplinary research: Research in which multiple disciplines contribute perspectives to a shared topic, often without integrating them. It places disciplines side by side, while interdisciplinary research seeks to combine their contributions.
Climate change research: Scientific investigation of climate processes, impacts, and responses to human-caused climate change. Understanding climate change connects atmospheric science with ecology, economics, engineering, and policy.
Academic disciplines: Established branches of scholarship with characteristic subjects, methods, and standards of evidence. Interdisciplinary work depends on disciplines while also challenging their boundaries.
Boundary objects: Shared artifacts or concepts that different communities use while interpreting them in their own ways. They let disciplinary teams coordinate around common materials without requiring identical assumptions.
Transdisciplinarity: An approach that integrates academic knowledge with knowledge from outside academia to address complex problems. It extends integration beyond academic disciplines to include other forms of expertise.
Biomedical engineering: The application of engineering principles to biology, medicine, and health care. It combines engineering methods with biological and clinical knowledge to develop medical technologies.
Interdisciplinary education: Education that connects knowledge and methods from multiple academic disciplines. Research integration influences how students are trained to work across fields.
Team science: Collaborative research in which teams combine expertise to investigate scientific questions. Interdisciplinary projects often rely on teams whose members contribute distinct forms of expertise.
Cross-disciplinary research: Research that applies concepts or methods from one discipline to questions in another. It often transfers tools across fields without the mutual integration associated with interdisciplinary work.