The deadline for signing in for the Leibniz PhD Network’s first Interdisciplinary Conference is extended till June 3rd. I already registered and here is why:
Interdisciplinarity matters! We are facing complex and often difficult problems and challenges in fields such as science, economy, or politics. Often it takes an interdisciplinary approach to solve these problems and handle challenges. When biology and technology join forces to create something astonishing as nanomedicine, when historians use complex computer software to analyze historical material or when police is using genetics to track down murderers, then interdisciplinary ways of problem solving and innovation are being implemented.
Interdisciplinary cooperation and projects remain important and continue to develop further! As the League of European Research Universities (LERU) states out, interdisciplinarity “has become an important issue for universities riding on the wave of dramatic societal changes and challenges, and an increasingly collaborative research system”. And this is not only true for research at universities!
Interdisciplinarity helps to explain our research to an audience outside of our specific academic field! It sharpens our sensitivity towards perspectives, views, problems, ideas, and methods of other disciplines, and helps to find a common language, not just among academics, but also with the nonacademic world.
The Leibniz PhD Network’s conference offers interesting insights into this field. Its workshops like “Impact of Science” or “Startup Engineering” seem promising to get useful input for my own scientific work and career. I personally see how my own discipline of historical and cultural science is often benefiting from interdisciplinary methods and is innovating research this way. – So let’s innovate together!
