ASAP-East Africa is a multiyear programme funded by DFIDs East African Research Hub. ASAP-East Africa draws on world-leading expertise from across multiple academic disciplines (physical, social and life sciences, civil engineering, urban planning, urban and economic geography, and development studies) to develop and deliver innovative research with an explicit aim of informing policies that improve air quality and other socio-economic outcomes of urban residents and create more sustainable and inclusive environments that work for all. The project involves academics from the four of the five University of Birmingham Colleges (Medical and Dental Sciences, Life and Environmental Sciences, Engineering and Physical Sciences, Social Sciences) and partners in three East African countries (Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda).
Proponents of interdisciplinary research argue that it facilitates the collaborative identification of solutions to complex challenges since consolidated knowledge can enable the development of novel insights. Critics of interdisciplinary research assert that interdisciplinary research projects often lack a coherent sense of their purposes. If the connection among the disciplines contemplated by a research project amounts to merely borrowing insights or methods from one or more disciplines to illuminate problems in another, one may question whether such research is truly interdisciplinary or contributing to the development of new forms of knowledge.
Whilst interdisciplinary research has been incentivised by universities and academic funders it remains clear that collectively delivering academic projects across disciplines and geographic boundaries presents a number of challenges. Interdisciplinary research teams face a number of unique challenges which must be addressed to ensure the success of projects.
Communication between disciplines can be difficult, an interdisciplinary team must set aside time to learn how to communicate with one another without confusion and with a common language.
Coordination between researchers, teams must ensure that they are able to meet in person and must set aside time to do so. This may be difficult when collaborators are geographically dispersed.
Respect between disciplines, research team must give experts from each discipline an equal amount of respect. Unfortunately, assumptions about other disciplines may exist which can damage interdisciplinary collaborations. Teams must identify these tensions and structure the team to ensure that each discipline has equal status. This is important to ensure that each member’s knowledge, experience and understanding are being represented in the team’s work.
Collaboration across geographical regions is a potential barrier that teams need to overcome. Regular face to face contact sustains collaboration, puts social pressure on collaborators, helps collaborators control distractions and amplifies individuals’ ideas, leading to insights.
The purpose of the panel is to contribute to a discussion about Interdisciplinarity in Practice by examining an interdisciplinary project from inception to implementation. This study adds to the scholarship in two ways.
The panelcontributes to an ongoing discussion about interdiscplinarity by examining, in an iterative manner, how collaboration is fostered and whether it is delivered.
The panel focuses upon the challenges, conflicts, and tensions that emerge when experts from different disciplines negotiate. The study will highlight the critical aspects and practices for successful interdisciplinary collaboration by analysing issues of leadership and group interaction.
Pannelists will present research produced by the ASAP-East Africa project from across geographic (Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda) and disciplinary boundaries (Health Modelling, Civil Engineering and Atmospheric Science) illustrating how engaging in interdisplinary research has encouraged a reflection on the academic process.