Abstract
Interdisciplinary science is rapidly advancing to address complex human-environment interactions. River science aims to provide the methods and knowledge required to sustainably manage some of the planet’s most important and vulnerable ecosystems; and there is a clear need for river managers and scientists to be trained within an interdisciplinary approach. However, despite the science community’s recognition of the importance of interdisciplinary training, there are few studies examining interdisciplinary graduate programmes, especially in science and engineering. Here we assess and reflect on the contribution of a 9-year European doctoral programme in river science: ‘Science for MAnagement of Rivers and their Tidal Systems’ Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate (SMART EMJD). The programme trained a new generation of 36 early career scientists under the supervision of 34 international experts from different disciplinary and interdisciplinary research fields focusing on river systems, aiming to transcend the boundaries between disciplines and between science and management. We analysed the three core facets of the SMART programme, namely: (1) interdisciplinarity, (2) internationalism, and (3) management-oriented science. We reviewed the contents of doctoral theses and publications and synthesised the outcomes of two questionnaire surveys conducted with doctoral candidates and supervisors. A high percentage of the scientific outputs (80%) were interdisciplinary. There was evidence of active collaboration between different teams of doctoral candidates and supervisors, in terms of joint publications (5 papers out of the 69 analysed) but this was understandably quite limited given the other demands of the programme. We found evidence to contradict the perception that interdisciplinarity is a barrier to career success as employment rates were high (97%) and achieved very soon after the defence, both in academia (50%) and the private/public sector (50%) with a strong international dimension. Despite management-oriented research being a limited (9%) portion of the ensemble of theses, employment in management was higher (22%). The SMART programme also increased the network of international collaborations for doctoral candidates and supervisors. Reflections on doctoral training programmes like SMART contribute to debates around research training and the career opportunities of interdisciplinary scientists.
Highlights
Interdisciplinary research and training programs are pivotal to address the complex, multi-faceted environmental challenges we are facing
45% of all papers were accepted for publication before the candidates’ defense date, corresponding to an average number of 0.9 papers per candidate, of which 71% were first-authored papers. This was lower than the average number of papers (1.9 papers per candidate before defense, 50% first-authored papers) of a reference group of 32 doctoral candidates enrolled at the same time as the SMART doctoral candidates in doctoral programs at the partner institutions
Our reflections on the 9-year SMART EMJD doctoral training program and the lessons learned from an analysis of the three core facets of the program – (1) interdisciplinarity; (2) internationalism; and (3) management-oriented science – help allay some concerns about interdisciplinary training and provide insights for future river science training
Summary
Interdisciplinary research and training programs are pivotal to address the complex, multi-faceted environmental challenges we are facing. It requires various methods and approaches aligned to individual disciplines (Klein, 1990; Millar, 2013), and sustainable solutions arise through the interaction among disciplines (Kates et al, 2001; Borrego and Newswander, 2010). River science is emerging as one such interdisciplinary research field because rivers are, fundamentally, complex physical, biological, chemical and socio-economic systems whose watersheds often cross multiple political and administrative boundaries (Thoms, 2005; Dollar et al, 2007). Three elements are critical to support a new paradigm and develop sustainable solutions: interdisciplinary working; international collaboration; management-oriented science
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