Academic practices such as reward and evaluation, selection, and supervision are often perceived to be not supportive of inter- and transdisciplinary academic profiles. For early career researchers, working in inter- and transdisciplinary consortia may cause high emotional costs and workloads due to balancing different expectations and juggling multiple roles. Additionally, not fitting a clear disciplinary profile may cause issues of belonging and insecurity about career opportunities. Also at later career stages, academics experience challenges in being acknowledged, appreciated, and rewarded for their inter- and transdisciplinary efforts, for instance in securing tenure, peer review, and applying for competitive (personal) grants. Therefore, we aim to gain insight into those challenges and possible ways of dealing with them, from diverse (disciplinary) perspectives and across different disciplinary and institutional contexts. This includes examining: (1) training and supervising of PhDs for integrated fire management in an international network, (2) hiring and supervision of PhDs in an inter- and transdisciplinary wildlife management project, and (3) challenges experienced by mid-career inter- and transdisciplinary researchers. The research findings are intended to inform larger scale follow-up research. Moreover, we develop creative and accessible outputs - comics - that aim to nurture feelings of recognition and belonging among researchers who experience similar challenges in engaging in ITD research, and aim to provide concrete lessons learned for others to learn from. 

We initiated this education advice project in response to the observation that students at the bachelor Liberal Arts & Sciences (LAS) struggle with the development of their identity as a “disciplined interdisciplinarian” and feel only partially prepared for their further career. Therefore, we reconsider the learning trajectory of personal and professional development, focussing on how to train and assess self-reflection, embedded career orientation in the curriculum, and strenghtening the community among a student population that is scattered across the university. We aim to make improvements to ‘tutoraat’, peercoaching and the reflection portfolio. 

Wild or free-ranging large mammals are returning to the Netherlands on a large scale, and our attitudes toward wild animals are changing dramatically. In the 8-year project WildlifeNL (2023-2030), scientists together with social partners are exploring how people and wild animals can learn to better coexist within the landscape.

WildlifeNL is a research project dedicated to developing new forms of wildlife management. Wild or semi-wild large animals are increasingly common in Dutch landscapes. Existing populations of wild boar and deer are increasing, large grazers are deployed as part of nature management, some species such as beaver and otter have been reintroduced, and yet others, such as the wolf, wildcat and golden jackal are returning to the Netherlands on their own. This development leads to all kinds of tensions between people and animals, which calls for a renewal of wildlife management. In a densely populated country as the Netherlands there are constant encounters between people and wildlife, consciously and more often unconsciously. These encounters are a form of communication between species that is often ignored by current wildlife management due to its emphasis on managing wildlife numbers.

WildlifeNL sees humans as an integral part of nature and recognizes how communication between wildlife and humans co-determines how they interact. From this perspective, we want to develop a new approach to wildlife management that combines the latest insights from social science, philosophy, ecology and technology. Together with stakeholders, we will develop new technologies, governance schemes and communication strategies and test them in Living Labs, with the aim of influencing the behavior of wildlife as well as humans in such a way that a low-conflict coexistence of humans and wildlife becomes possible. In doing so, WildlifeNL contributes to the quest for a nature-inclusive society in which people and wildlife can live together sustainably. WildlifeNL is carried out by a large consortium of researchers and various social partners.

I joined the WildlifeNL consortium as an accompanying researcher to study inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration practices. I'm specifically interested in how the early stages of transdisciplinary collaboration ('phase zero') can be designed and implemented, how knowledge and insighs emerge in a large and diverse consortium, and how PhD and postdoc researchers can be supported in inter- and transdisciplinary research. Moreover, I co-supervise a PhD candidate who studies transdisciplinary communication and dialogue. 

Research funding bodies are increasingly funding transdisciplinary research, but setting up such research and carrying it out is complicated. The Young Academy is bringing together the views of stakeholders, in order to identify the obstacles involved.

The Young Academy is bringing together the views of researchers, civil-society partners, and staff of the Dutch Research Council (NWO) in order to identify the obstacles involved. The project is being carried out partly in collaboration with the NWO Knowledge Platform for Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Research.

What is transdisciplinary research?
Transdisciplinary research incorporates the knowledge and expertise of civil-society stakeholders and businesses throughout the entire research process. Part of the underlying idea is that complex scientific and social problems – such as tackling the Covid-19 crisis or restoring biodiversity – cannot be solved by approaching them from just a single discipline or perspective. An approach is required that integrates the knowhow gained within various different disciplines (within academia) and fields of practice (outside academia). Moreover, transdisciplinary research can lead to new fundamental scientific questions and insights.

Obstacles
Research funding bodies are increasingly funding transdisciplinary research. Take, for example, multi-year NWO programmes such as the Knowledge and Innovation Agreement (KIC) and the National Research Agenda (NWA) or the recently established “convergence alliance” between Erasmus University, the Erasmus Medical Centre, and Delft University of Technology (convergence.nl). But setting up and conducting transdisciplinary research is complicated, partly because many researchers and universities have not yet established routines and best practices for the necessary knowledge-sharing. As a result, the potential for knowledge development via a wider community is not being utilised to the full extent. There may also be a mismatch between what transdisciplinary research requires from researchers (and also from civil-society partners), and the current funding system.

Transdisciplinary research in the picture
The Young Academy wishes to address the following questions:

What motivates researchers and civil-society partners to invest time and energy in a transdisciplinary research project?
What roles do researchers and civil-society partners see for themselves in such research processes?
What infrastructure is being developed to ensure knowledge sharing and knowledge integration?
What obstacles and opportunities do researchers and civil-society partners encounter when setting up and carrying out transdisciplinary projects? We distinguish here between obstacles and opportunities encountered in day-to-day working practice, in cooperation during the project, and in cooperation with the funding bodies.
The Young Academy is collaborating with NWO in sending out a questionnaire. Two roundtable discussions will also be organised jointly, one with researchers and one with other civil-society organisations. The Young Academy will also conduct a number of in-depth interviews. The aim is to determine how added value, both scientific and societal, can be created.

We also intend providing recommendations – in the form of a public report and clear guidelines for researchers, NWO, and knowledge institutions – on the best way for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research to be carried out and how it can be supported. The findings from the questionnaire, interviews, and roundtable discussions will collectively form the basis for the recommendations.

I stepped aboard this project as a researcher and studied national and university research policies for inter- and transdisciplinary research. In doing so, I developed a survey, contributed to organizing two large round table conversation events, conducted a series of interviews with researchers, societal partners and research and grant advisors at different Dutch universities, analyzed the data from those efforts and supported in the writing of a policy report on Recognition & Rewards for inter- and trandisciplinary research.