Interdisciplinary researchers attain better long-term funding performance

Ye Sun,Vito Latora,Giacomo Livan,Athen Ma

doi:10.1038/s42005-021-00769-z

Abstract

Interdisciplinary research is on the rise globally. Yet, several studies have shown that it often achieves lower impact compared to more specialized work, and is less likely to attract funding. Here, we seek to reconcile such evidence by analyzing 44,419 research grants awarded by the research councils in the UK. We find that researchers with an interdisciplinary funding track record dominate the network of academic collaborations, both in terms of centrality and knowledge brokerage, but such a competitive advantage does not translate into immediate return. Our results based on a matched pair analysis show that interdisciplinary researchers achieve lower impact with their publications in the short run; however, they eventually outperform their specialized counterparts in funding performance, both in terms of volume and value. These findings suggest that pursuing an interdisciplinary career may require perseverance to overcome extra challenges, but can pave the way for a more successful endeavor.

Highlights

Interdisciplinary research is on the rise globally
Such difference may be relevant in other contexts, in the following we will take the position that being a cross-council investigator represents the main indicator that a researcher seeks funding to push disciplinary boundaries with their work
To examine how the two groups of investigators evolve over time, we calculate the fraction of cross-council investigators in each year, and observe a marked increase as expected, from around 0.17 in 2006 to 0.26 in 2018 (Fig. 1d)

Summary

Introduction

Interdisciplinary research is on the rise globally. Yet, several studies have shown that it often achieves lower impact compared to more specialized work, and is less likely to attract funding. Our results based on a matched pair analysis show that interdisciplinary researchers achieve lower impact with their publications in the short run; they eventually outperform their specialized counterparts in funding performance, both in terms of volume and value. A higher uptake in interdisciplinary research has been widely reported across academia[9], as there is a much greater level of knowledge transfer between subjects among researchers[10] These trends are somewhat intriguing when one looks at the evidences available on research outcomes, which suggest that— more often than not—interdisciplinary research may be an unrewarding enterprise in today’s highly competitive academic environment. Our findings help explain the continuous drive on interdisciplinary research, and provide insights on its role in the modern research funding landscape that may be useful to researchers and funding bodies alike

Methods

Results

Conclusion