Should we discipline interdisciplinarity?

Prof. Gabriele BAMMER, Australian National University

Zeit: Mittwoch, 3. Mai 2017, 18:00

Ort: Universität für Bodenkultur, Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33, 1180 Wien, Seminarraum der Meteorologie, Erdgeschoß

Moderation: Univ.-Prof. Ing. Dr. Verena Winiwarter.

Interdisciplinary researchers are hard to embed in the academic mainstream, despite growing recognition of their importance and increasing numbers of interdisciplinary projects and programs. Team-based interdisciplinarity addressing complex social and environmental problems needs specific expertise over and above that contributed by disciplines. This set of knowledge and skills is currently poorly articulated and recognized. If contributing such know-how was an established role, it could provide a way of more adequately integrating interdisciplinary researchers into academic institutions. A discipline of Integration and Implementation Sciences (I2S) could fill such a role. I2S comprises three domains: 1) synthesis of disciplinary and stakeholder knowledge, 2) understanding and managing unknowns and 3) providing integrated research support (bringing together both what is known and unknown) for policy and practice change. Specific functions for I2S, particularly organising a repository of methods and providing an identifiable academic community will be discussed. Gabriele Bammer is developing the new discipline of Integration and Implementation Sciences (I2S) to improve research strengths for tackling complex real-world problems through synthesis of disciplinary and stakeholder knowledge, understanding and managing diverse unknowns and providing integrated research support for policy and practice change (see i2s.anu.edu.au and http:// I2Insights.org). She looks at applications in a wide range of areas including population health, environment and security.