Chapter 3: Goal
When is interdisciplinarity necessary or of added value?
‘Interdisciplinarity’ has become a ubiquitous academic buzzword or, as one of our interviewees put it, a rarely scrutinized ‘hooray term’. Research institutes proudly advertise their ‘interdisciplinary orientation’; rant applications routinely mention the ‘cross-disciplinary’ scope of the proposed research. Given this often unquestioned enthusiasm, one should ask a set of basic questions: Why is interdisciplinary research to be welcomed? Which research objects or problems require an interdisciplinary approach? Which of these might best be addressed via the in-depth expertise of one discipline? However, as disciplines are hardly ever a single unified ‘thing’, these questions may themselves be oversimplifying the current situation at universities and research institutes.
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