Why Interdisciplinary Research Deserves Your Attention

A few years ago, I gave a talk at a university’s physics department about my “alternative” career. I was the editor for a physics magazine, and I frequently got requests to explain how — and why — I left active research.

After the talk, my host leaned on the podium and, with eyebrow raised, said, “So, you traded depth for breadth?” He was right: I was happier knowing a bit about many topics than a lot about just one. Seeing the connections between research — from the impossibly fine precision of nanotechnology to the mysteries of dark matter — made me feel closer to science, and it was one of the reasons I left what had become an overly specialized science career.

I’m sharing this story because it explains why I find interdisciplinary research so attractive. Whether you think of it as applying the tools of one field to understand another, or discovering problems that only live at the boundaries of different fields, there’s a need to think broadly, see a problem from multiple angles, and collaborate. You can’t get locked into a narrow view. Instead, diverse scientific perspectives need to work seamlessly together.

The challenges facing us are too complex to solve with a single viewpoint. Look, for example, at the National Academy of Engineering’s “Grand Challenges” list: making solar energy economical, advancing health informatics, developing carbon sequestration methods, and more. Not a single one could be solved within one discipline. One of the biggest research funding agencies in the U.S. — the National Science Foundation — prioritizes interdisciplinary work, noting that “support of interdisciplinary research and education is essential for accelerating scientific discovery and preparing a workforce that addresses scientific challenges in innovative ways.”

Specialized, field-specific research is, of course, still essential. Without that specialist focus, we wouldn’t have the knowledge base to tackle big problems. The ideal interdisciplinary team of the future will need to have a mixture of these specialists and researchers who can build connections between them. That connector-builder is a special skill because you need to speak the languages of many fields and ask questions that pull people into new ways of thinking.

Another reason to champion interdisciplinary research is that it can prepare students for fulfilling careers in various sectors of the workforce. Interdisciplinary research is inherently relatable, and that simple fact can be a compelling reason to choose science as a profession. Returning to the grand challenges list, you see things like making better medicines, understanding the brain, or improving how we learn. These are problems that matter to humans, and solving them can be a fulfilling career.

And careers in various sectors are increasingly valuing interpersonal skills like communication, collaboration, and team building. In recent years, close to a third of U.S. physics Ph.D.s who remained in the U.S. went into the private sector within a year of earning their doctorates. Large fractions of Ph.D.s in other science and engineering fields are finding jobs in the private sector as well. Working within an interdisciplinary team trains you to think broadly and collaboratively — desirable skills wherever you work, and especially valued in the private sector. Encouraging those skills through interdisciplinary projects at the graduate school level allows universities to better prepare their students for their careers.

I love physics because it trains you to simplify complicated problems to their essence. That simplifying mindset is an asset. But the joke about physicists is that they sometimes take the simplification too far — using a sphere to model a porcupine. Meaningful approaches to solving a problem require the expertise of environmentalists, biologists, doctors, engineers, and so on to know where that simplifying is okay and where it’s not. For a physicist, that means learning not only a new language but even a new mindset about how to add detail to theory.

We see that intersection occurring at the interface between physics and biology. Traditional areas of physics — like mechanics, collective motion, complexity, statistical physics, and fluid dynamics — are merging with fundamental questions in biology, like cell migration, cell motility, epidemiology, and population dynamics. Universities and research labs are creating centers to support interdisciplinary work. At the American Physical Society, we launched a new journal, PRX Life, in 2023 to feature exactly that kind of research.

Another interdisciplinary avenue is the intersection of materials discovery with artificial intelligence. Researchers have nosed around for new materials for decades, using theory and intuition to identify the right blend and arrangement of atomic elements. They then painstakingly tweak the recipe. That approach led to high-temperature superconductors and the materials used in airplanes and lightweight batteries. Today, AI is able to predict hundreds of thousands of new materials at once — a scale far beyond what humans were able to do before. The people who predict and search for materials must work with those who know how to design and train these AI tools to fully take advantage of this new technology.

Finding research outside of your specialty isn’t necessarily hard, but you have to make the time to look. One tip is to skip your department colloquium every once in a while for a seminar in another area. Science journalists also offer a lot of great stuff to read. The APS online magazine, Physics, makes a point of highlighting interdisciplinary research for its readers. All of the articles are free, and there’s a mixture of easy reading and more in-depth analysis of new results.

Published research is easier to find now that more of it is available in open-access journals, which don’t require a subscription to read. Two journals from APS — Physical Review X and Physical Review Research — offer exclusively open-access studies that cover all of physics and research that physics touches. Anyone can check out the cool stuff that editors have labeled “interdisciplinary physics” in PRX. The list includes new approaches to understanding cancer cells, climate, and animal behavior.

A thousand years ago, all scientists were interdisciplinary. Now, we’re in a new era where specialists need to diversify. There’s inertia to doing that because it means moving out of your comfort zone and often learning a new language and way of thinking. That’s the challenge — and appeal — of working in any diverse group.

From SWE Magazine ©2024. Reprinted with permission from the Society of Women Engineers