Unpacking academic interdisciplinarity

Resources exploring what interdisciplinarity in higher education really means in practice and how it can shape quality teaching and research

Advice on successfully bringing interdisciplinarity into university teaching and research practices

Interdisciplinarity, though a mouthful, has become a buzzword in higher education with many arguing it should play a more central role in course design and research strategy. But its true meaning often gets blurred and questions remain over how and when interdisciplinary methods should be applied. This collection of resources sets out to define interdisciplinarity, explain when it is relevant and offer tips on how it can be effectively used to enrich teaching and research programmes.

What is interdisciplinarity in teaching and how can we make it work?

Loy Hui Chieh explains what true interdisciplinarity is and how to successfully embed it into university courses

Loy Hui Chieh

National University of Singapore

Supporting interdisciplinary research

Advice on developing and managing successful interdisciplinary research teams

How to successfully develop and run interdisciplinary research teams

John Domingue explains how to foster a culture of openness and support that encourages and helps staff teams to pursue interdisciplinary research projects

John Domingue

The Open University

Advice on drafting effective proposals for interdisciplinary research projects

All together now: how to write an interdisciplinary research proposal

Advice on drafting successful research proposals to secure support and funding for interdisciplinary projects, from three academics with experience developing research partnerships and collaborations

Catherine Healy, Catherine Lyall, Isabel Fletcher

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Edinburgh

Advice on creating a university research culture that is accessible, transparent and reproducible

Eight ways your university can make research culture more open

Parveen Yaqoob and Robert Darby share eight actions institutions can take to foster a culture of research that is more accessible, transparent and reproducible

Parveen Yaqoob, Robert Darby

University of Reading

Advice on looking to the wider research community for resources and training to upskill your research team

Fostering interdisciplinary learning in large-scale doctoral programmes

Corina Sas highlights key insights for design and delivery of large-scale doctoral training programmes that foster supportive and cooperative interdisciplinary learning environments

Corina Sas

Lancaster University

Eight essential tips for remote interdisciplinary teamwork

Rocío Elizabeth Cortez Márquez and Elia Esther Mendoza Carabeo give advice on making interdisciplinary teams work online

Rocío Elizabeth Cortez Márquez , Elia Esther Mendoza Carabeo

Monterrey Institute of Technology

An interdisciplinary approach to teaching

Fostering interdisciplinary thinking in students is a great idea for universities

How to lay the groundwork for interdisciplinarity in students

Recent events have shown the necessity of working together, and it’s never too early for universities, faculty and students to begin thinking about this, says Georgina Harris

Georgina Harris

Arden University

Creating an interdisciplinary team at research universities is just like playing a fantasy role-playing game

Why interdisciplinarity is just like a fantasy role-playing game

Who’s the barbarian? Which one’s the wizard? Lorena Quilantán García offers practical advice on embarking upon your very own interdisciplinary hero quest

Lorena Quilantán García

Monterrey Institute of Technology

Advice on applying action learning to student surveys to improve teaching practices

Using action learning to improve interdisciplinary online teaching

A guide to using action learning – questioning knowledge to find solutions – to evaluate and improve teaching practices, based on research by Na Li, Qian Wang, Jiajun Liu and Victoria Marsick

Na Li, Qian Wang , Jiajun Liu, Victoria Marsick

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University , Columbia University

Advice on developing lifelong learning programmes which take a multidisciplinary approach

Developing flexible lifelong learning in line with changing needs and opportunities 

Jonathan Michie shares insight to help institutions develop lifelong learning strategies that meet the need for flexible and relevant educational programmes

Jonathan Michie

University of Oxford

Covid as a catalyst: deepening lifelong learning

Miriam Green and Susanna Leong share key considerations for universities to develop effective lifelong learning programmes that will keep pace with the rapid changes across higher education

Miriam Jacqueline Green, Susanna HS Leong

National University of Singapore

Tackling complex global challenges

Advice on fostering interdisciplinary research collaborations early in your academic career

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: investing in early career interdisciplinarity

Three PhD students share tips for embracing an interdisciplinary approach to research from the start of one’s academic career to aid progress towards tackling the Sustainable Development Goals

Roxanne Keynejad, Poushali Ganguli, Manisha Yapa

King’s College London, UNSW Sydney

Philosophy and other humanities are at the heart of making sustainability work on a national and international scale

Social sciences, humanities and arts are critical for sustainability

The neglect of social sciences, humanities and arts is at the heart of why the shift to sustainability has been slow − and why it may eventually fail, say Eric Neumayer and Charles Joly

Eric Neumayer, Charles Joly

The London School of Economics and Political Science

How to use design methods such as scenario building to guide students in tackling real world challenges

Designing back from the future: building scenarios to engage students with global challenges

Anke Schwittay shows how design methods such as scenario building can help students think creatively about diverse challenges and imagine responses to them

Anke Schwittay

University of Sussex

Advice on taking an interdisciplinary approach to foster greater creativity in teaching and research

How to embed creativity more fully into university curricula

Five key strategies to enhance student creativity through university curricula that encourage exploration and enquiry

Gareth Loudon

Royal College of Art

Connecting research and humanities through creative collaborations

Creative collaborations between students in different disciplines can offer opportunities to gain “real world” experience and apply their knowledge in new contexts. Allison Schwartz explains how

Allison Schwartz

University of West Florida

Civic engagement

Advice on shaping research around community needs

Directing research to engage and support local communities

Helen Szoor-McElhinney and colleagues describe how academics can shape their research around key community needs and encourage participation from multidisciplinary faculty, students and local people

Helen Szoor-McElhinney, Alette Willis, Liam Gilchrist

The University of Edinburgh

How to revitalise student knowledge exchange with local communities

How co-creating an ‘umbrella’ programme can help institutions innovate student knowledge exchange and improve engagement with local communities and businesses, a team from Queen Mary University of London explain

Patrick McGurk, Joanne Zhang, Fezzan Ahmed, Olivia Reid

Queen Mary University of London

Step by step advice on embedding public engagement into university research and teaching

How to embed public engagement into your teaching and research activities

Carenza Lewis shares a step-by-step guide for embedding public engagement into your institution’s research and teaching

Carenza Lewis

University of Lincoln