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The Joys and Perils of Interdisciplinary Research

The Joys and Perils of Interdisciplinary Research. Jignesh M. Patel University of Michigan. What is interdisciplinary. Definition: Research where the contributions of the various disciplines are integrated to provide holistic or systemic outcomes 1 . Not a casual collaborative affair.

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The Joys and Perils of Interdisciplinary Research

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  1. The Joys and Perils of Interdisciplinary Research Jignesh M. Patel University of Michigan

  2. What is interdisciplinary • Definition: • Research where the contributions of the various disciplines are integrated to provide holistic or systemic outcomes1. • Not a casual collaborative affair 1Tait et al., Guidelines for interdisciplinary research and research managers

  3. The Joys • Exposure to a wonderful new world • Continuous learning process • Potential impact is huge • Forced to be a broader computer scientist • Its different!

  4. The Challenges • Steep learning curve • Its obvious that “A recessive allele displays no influence on the phenotype in heterozygous individuals.” • Finding the right set of collaborators • “Ah! You are a database guy. I have this Oracle database that ….” • Finding interesting, non-trivial computational problems • What characterizes the similarity of two proteins? • Domain knowledge based on intuition developed over many decades, fuzziness in everything, specialization ... • Publishing/funding is harder • Harder to motivate students (initially)

  5. To be or not to be • To be • A research style issue – a personal choice • I love it! • If you try make a serious effort, but remember your homebase. • Better academic job prospects for students • Or not to be • You can still be supportive of such research

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