@article{2406b5bad3c442809e1bd4c913fe303e,
title = "The Rewards and Challenges of Interdisciplinary Collaborations",
author = "Ren, {Z. Jason}",
note = "Funding Information: I consider appealing to grant organizations both a challenge and an opportunity, depending on the funding agency. I consider appealing to grant organizations both a challenge and an opportunity, depending on the funding agency. There is a new word being used in many largest funding opportunities for interdisciplinary research at the US National Science Foundation: convergence. Convergence means—and mandates—that big proposals pull people from a variety of disciplines, not only from the physical and life sciences but also from social sciences like economics and political science. The reason for this is that, of course, no single discipline can solve the big challenges alone. The proposal is hard to write and to win, but it can be fun and informative as well. It's an opportunity to learn from the other disciplines involved in the project. I've had experiences where it has been a very efficient process—where we write the proposal together yet receive the funding separately and independently. The proposal is hard to write and to win, but it can be fun and informative as well. It's an opportunity to learn from the other disciplines involved on the project. However, it can be much more challenging to get funding for interdisciplinary work from mission-driven agencies. This is largely because the organization is unable to justify the broad reach of the research with the often defined scope of their missions. Ultimately, it may take some tweaking of your proposal, but sooner or later you can find a good match for your interdisciplinary research. ",
year = "2019",
month = oct,
day = "25",
doi = "10.1016/j.isci.2019.08.015",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "20",
pages = "575--578",
journal = "iScience",
issn = "2589-0042",
publisher = "Elsevier Inc.",
}