Integrating disciplines, relationships, and organizational development

Researchers are accustomed to working in clusters of seemingly related areas known as disciplines. Individual disciplinary pursuits, research exploration, and discovery often serve as the essential knowledge upon which collaboration is possible. Translating fundamental knowledge into information that catalyses collaboration requires the blending of multiple disciplines into a vibrant ensemble.

Academic research structures have evolved into distinct disciplines of concentrated knowledge around focused topics or methodologies to foster deep dives into the scientific, societal, and historical challenges of the late 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries. It is these findings on whose shoulders we build today. As new technologies emerged, more complex challenges followed, and contemporary research practices became increasingly reliant on a wider range of knowledge and experience. It has become increasingly difficult for a single individual, or groups of people from a single discipline, to translate knowledge to a global context on their own.

Thus, over the years the term ‘team science’ emerged in the context of cross- disciplinary research collaborations which often included a scientific discipline in the mix (Stokols et al, 2008). Indeed, research collaboration extends beyond the inclusion of science and conveys the need for increased interaction and integration among and across very many disciplinary pursuits, not to mention different professional sectors and communities (Wageman, Gardner, and Mortensen, 2012). Collaborative research integrates different ideas, concepts, and methods from across disciplinary boundaries to enhance research creativity and innovation. Necessarily researchers actively engaged in these cross- disciplinary collaborations need to interact collectively to exploit the advances promised by collaboration.