Rather than pursue questions related to learning in biology from separate camps, recent calls highlight the necessity of interdisciplinary research agendas. Interdisciplinary collaborations allow for a complicated and expanded approach to questions about learning within specific science domains, such as biology. Despite its benefits, interdisciplinary work inevitably involves challenges. Some s...

The tremendous development of knowledge, the accumulation of clinical experience, and the enriching of everyday practice with the results of basic and clinical research created the need for splitting medicine in specialities and sub-specialities. Although this evolution is inevitable in order to meet the complex needs and demands of patients, we have to be aware of the risk of neglecting the ho...

BACKGROUND Interdisciplinary health research is increasingly perceived as an expectation of research institutions and funding bodies within Australia. However, little consideration has been given to the extent to which this re-orientation has produced a new type of researcher--an interdisciplinary health researcher. DISCUSSION As cross-enrolled postgraduate research students, we assert that w...

A continuing interest in interdisciplinary research characterizes conservation biology. This interest is a response in large part to the increasingly complex problems facing society. Analysis of recent ecotourism research, as an interdisciplinary enterprise, offers insights. As such, this paper analyses two projects – the social and ecological impacts of visitors to the south-western Australian...

BACKGROUND A key component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Roadmap for Medical Research is the development of interdisciplinary research teams. How best to teach and foster interdisciplinary research skills has not been determined. An effort at promoting interdisciplinary research was initiated by the Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) at NIH in 1999. The following year, 12 ...

As research funding becomes more competitive, it will be imperative for researchers to break the mentality of a single laboratory/single research focus and develop an interdisciplinary research team aimed at addressing real world challenges. Members of this team may be at the same institution, may be found regionally, or may be international. However, all must share the same passion for a topic...

A growing body of evidence shows that collaborative teams and communities tend to produce the highest-impact scientific work. This paper proposes a new method to (1) Identify collaborative communities in longitudinal scientific networks, and (2) Evaluate the impact of specific research institutes, services or policies on the interdisciplinary collaboration between these communities. First, we a...

The interdisciplinary approach can be beneficial to researchers, educators, and practitioners for solving complex problems and synthesizing knowledge. While a great deal has been written about interdisciplinary activity in relation to the humanities and the natural and social sciences, it has been important in the telecommunications and networking field as well. This article investigates the su...