Table 1 Key terms related to interdisciplinary, applied, and collaborative science approaches.
Term | Definition and source | Includes bridging across disciplines | Includes solving real-world problems | Includes interdependent team doing science |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Actionable science | “Societally engaged sustainability research that improves use in decision-making” (Arnott et al., 2020, p. A1). | X | ||
Breakthrough science | Science whose ultimate goal is to integrate different types of knowledge to solve real-world challenges (current article, following Read et al., 2016, p. 7: “To make scientific breakthroughs with complex, large-scale problems, society depends on collaborative teams of scientists to effectively exchange information across disciplinary boundaries”) | X | X | |
Convergence research | National Science Foundation (NSF) identifies Convergence Research as having two primary characteristics: “(1) Research driven by a specific and compelling problem. Convergence Research is generally inspired by the need to address a specific challenge or opportunity, whether it arises from deep scientific questions or pressing societal needs and (2) Deep integration across disciplines. As experts from different disciplines pursue common research challenges, their knowledge, theories, methods, data, research communities and languages become increasingly intermingled or integrated. New frameworks, paradigms or even disciplines can form sustained interactions across multiple communities” (National Science Foundation (NSF), 2022) | X | X* | |
Integration | High end of “level of interaction and integration spectrum”. In an integrated research team: “(1) Each team member brings specific expertise to address the research problem; (2) Teams meet regularly to discuss team goals, individuals’ objectives, and next steps; and (3) Team shares leadership responsibilities, decision-making authority, data, and credit” (Bennett et al., 2010, p. 9) | X | ||
Integrative applied research | “Integrative applied research is a research style that deals with complex real-world problems by bringing together disciplinary and stakeholder knowledge and explicitly dealing with remaining unknowns, in order to use that integrated research to support policy and practice change. An integrative applied research team is composed of investigators from a range of disciplines…Many, but not necessarily all, team members also have expertise in the complex real-world problem under consideration. The team explicitly interacts with stakeholders, policy makers and practitioners” (Bammer, 2013, p. 18). | X | X | X |
Interdisciplinary research | “[A]n interactive process in which researchers work jointly, each drawing from his or her own discipline-specific perspective, to address a common research problem” (Stokols et al., 2008, p. S79). | X | X | |
Multidisciplinary research | “[A] sequential process whereby researchers in different disciplines work independently, each from his or her own discipline-specific perspective, with a goal of eventually combining efforts to address a common research problem” (Stokols et al., 2008, p. S79). | X | ||
Team science | “Scientific collaboration, i.e., research conducted by more than one individual in an interdependent fashion, including research conducted by small teams and larger groups… Most team science is conducted by 2–10 individuals, and we refer to entities of this size as science teams” (National Research Council NRC (2015), p. 22). | X | ||
Transdisciplinary research | “[A]n integrative process in which researchers work jointly to develop and use a shared conceptual framework that synthesises and extends discipline-specific theories, concepts, methods, or all three to create new models and language to address a common research problem” (Stokols et al., 2008, p. S79). | X | X | |
Translational research | “Translational research refers to translating research into practice, i.e., ensuring that new treatments and research knowledge actually reach the patients or populations for whom they are intended and are implemented correctly” (Woolf 2008, p. 211) | X | ||
Usable science | “Usable science is [science] produced to contribute directly to the design of policy or the solution of a problem. This implies a much more specific, time sensitive role for science to be used in supporting decisions as they exist today or in the near future” (Dilling and Lemos, 2011, p. 681). | X |
