Improving Communication in Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

许多紧迫的问题都很复杂，需要以跨学科的方式解决。关于跨学科研究挑战的新兴文献强调了有效沟通的至关重要性。如何实现这一目标还不太清楚。在该项目中，采用明确的哲学方法来发展跨学科合作中有效沟通所必需的知识共同点。对哲学方法的需求源于不同学科对所研究对象的本质（形而上学）和认识它们的方法（认识论）的不同看法。该提案的前提是，一个精心构建的识别、理解和纳入哲学维度的过程将有助于促进跨学科研究团队成员之间的有效沟通。这里采取的方法是使用一组问题——“工具箱”来探讨科学研究的认识论和形而上学方面。在研讨会上，CDR 参与者以个人身份审视这些问题，并在团队中分享他们的观点。拟议的项目将通过涉及跨学科研究的几项不同活动来扩展和改进基于工具箱的方法，包括开发该方法有效的现有研究合作多样性的描述，对主要类型的研究团队的知识构建和交流的分析，以及对工具箱方法的调整，以在这些团队中发挥最大的效力。它还将包括与工作团队一起测试修订后的工具箱，使用这些测试会议来研究此类研究中的沟通过程和动态，以及通过出版物、会议和编辑卷向跨学科研究从业者和学生社区传播该项目的研究结果。该项目将改善跨学科研究在不同类型合作中的实践。因此，其影响将遍及需要此类研究的各种活动。其中一些合作研究领域对于指导旨在改善人类福祉的政策至关重要，例如涉及可持续自然系统和复杂公共卫生问题的政策。其他研究则是在发现前沿扩展跨学科研究的一部分，例如计算生物学、神经科学和纳米技术。此外，该项目旨在通过融合从事跨学科研究的科学家的见解来推进认识论和科学哲学。因此，哲学不仅是该项目的资源，而且是该项目的直接受益者。它还将通过提高作为研讨会参与者和研究合作者直接参与的研究生的成熟度和技能来促进教学、培训和学习。会议/研讨会和项目成果将惠及越来越多寻求培养跨学科合作能力的国际学生和科学家。

Many pressing problems are complex in that they require to be addressed in a cross-disciplinary manner. An emerging literature on the challenges of cross disciplinary research emphasizes the critical importance of effective communication. How this is to be achieved is less well understood. In this project, an explicitly philosophical approach is adopted to develop the intellectual common ground that is requisite for effective communication in cross disciplinary collaborations. The need for a philosophical approach stems from the disparate views about the nature of objects studied (metaphysics) and methods of knowing them (epistemology) favored by different disciplines. The premise of this proposal is that a carefully structured process of identifying, understanding, and incorporating philosophical dimensions will serve to facilitate effective communication between cross disciplinary research team members. The approach to be taken here is to use a set of questions?the ?toolbox??that probes the epistemological and metaphysical aspects of scientific research. In a workshop setting, CDR participants examine these questions as individuals and share their views within their team. The proposed project will extend and improve the toolbox-based method through several distinct activities involving cross disciplinary research including the development of a description of the diversity of existing research collaborations for which the method can be effective, an analysis of knowledge construction and communication in predominant types of research teams, and an adaptation of the toolbox method for greatest effectiveness in these teams. It will also include a test of the revised toolbox with working teams, the use these test sessions to study communication processes and dynamics within this type of research, and the dissemination of the findings of this project to the community of cross disciplinary research practitioners and students through publications, a conference, and an edited volume.The project will improve the practice of cross disciplinary research in diverse types of collaboration. Its impacts will therefore be felt across the range of activities in which such research is required. Some of these areas of collaborative research are critical for guiding policies aimed to improve human wellbeing, such as those concerning sustainable natural systems and complex public health issues. Others are part of expanding interdisciplinary research at the forefront of discovery, such as computational biology, neurosciences, and nanotechnology. In addition, the project aims to advance epistemology and the philosophy of science by incorporating insights from scientists engaged in cross disciplinary research?philosophy, therefore, is not merely a resource for this project but a direct beneficiary of it. It will also promote teaching, training, and learning by improving the sophistication and skills of graduate students directly involved as workshop participants and those who work as research collaborators. The conference/workshop and project deliverables will reach the growing international audience of students and scientists seeking to build their capacity for cross-disciplinary collaboration.