Wilthagen, Ton, Aarts, Emile & Valcke, Peggy (2018) A time for interdisciplinarity: an essay on the added value of collaboration for science, university and society. Tilburg University, Nov. 2018

5 important questions on Wilthagen, Ton, Aarts, Emile & Valcke, Peggy (2018) A time for interdisciplinarity: an essay on the added value of collaboration for science, university and society. Tilburg University, Nov. 2018

What did Zahir Irani argue as Dean of Management and Law at the Bradford University School of Management in the United Kingdom?

traditional departmental structures impede research and education in their evolution in a changing world. These structures lead to rivalry and a struggle for resources and funding, rather than encouraging collaboration.

What is the ultimate argument of this article?

interdisciplinary collaboration is a prerequisite for science to contribute to major problems – wicked problems – and thus generate impact of knowledge: complexity is the main driving force behind interdisciplinarity

What is the difference between mode 1 and mode 2 science regarding the research of Gibbons et al.?

Mode 1 is solely about striving for scientific knowledge, in the form of fundamental research while Mode 2 is about the collaboration or integration of scientific disciplines that, in their application, are focused on real life problems
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What are the common-heard counterarguments for interdisciplinarity?

No new organizational arrangements could avoid a certain range of specialization and it would go towards academia neglecting their own field and science becoming an organized chaos

What are other related ways of research that should be taken into account in order to form a good definition of interdisciplinarity?

Multidisciplinary = joint/separately organized form, with own frameworks etc.
Cross-disciplinary = viewing a particular issue from another point of view of another discipline
Transdisciplinary = new field that combines science with problems to link policy with evidence out of the real world like climate change etc.
Postdisciplinary = disciplinary structures are completely abandoned in favor of intellectual freedom.

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