Topflight: Interdisciplinary Collaboration Within and Beyond the Academy

We talk about interdisciplinary collaboration a lot in this newsletter, and most of those discussions are predicated on the assumption that interdisciplinary collaboration is important. But we don’t often talk about why it’s important, so we thought we’d take a step back and give you an overarching view of the trends that are moving interdisciplinary research to the forefront of many organizations. We’ll also take a look at some interdisciplinary collaborations going on at the faculty level right here at the University of Arizona.

The main factor driving the expansion of interdisciplinary collaboration is the scope of the problems that researchers today are being asked to solve. Problems like climate change, food insecurity, and socioeconomic disparities could no more be addressed by a single discipline than a blockbuster movie could be made by only the camera department.

Most of the interdisciplinary collaborations at the University of Arizona evolved in response to grand challenges. Dr. Malak Tfaily, a member of the BIO5 Institute, applies her expertise in analytical chemistry to interdisciplinary efforts to understand ecosystems. Dr. Tfaily started collaborating early in her career and quickly realized her specialized skillset—far from limiting her to one field—actually enabled her to contribute to multiple fields of study.

“I wouldn’t be doing the research I’m doing right now if it weren’t for interdisciplinary collaboration,” says Dr. Tfaily.

Not all institutes are dedicated to STEM disciplines. The Confluence Center for Creative Inquiry  is committed to sponsoring interdisciplinary projects that address complex issues in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Another collaborative hub, the Arizona Institute for Resilient Environments and Societies (AIRES), coordinates interdisciplinary groups of faculty, students, and projects across the University of Arizona’s campus, from climate science to public policy, law, the arts, water resources, and more. The AIRES Institute collaborates with the Tucson community, another important aspect of academic work. Dr. Neha Gupta, a Program Coordinator at the AIRES Institute, says that graduate students thinking about getting into interdisciplinary collaboration should think of it less along the lines of, “I want to be a firefighter when I grow up,” and more along the lines of, “I want to put out the fire that’s burning in my backyard right now.”

Tackling multidisciplinary problems is of critical concern both inside and beyond the academy. The private sector is a collaborative environment, and frequently jobs outside of the university require knowledge of more than one discipline. Interdisciplinary classes are on the rise, and teachers who can lead them will be in increasingly high demand. So whether you plan to leave school after graduation or become one of the people who shapes higher education, we hope that this article will have convinced you that preparing for an interdisciplinary future is valuable for both you and our complex world.