Interdisciplinary research can bridge the gap between science and society

Interdisciplinary research can bridge the gap between science and society

Key points:

• Traditional silos: Research has historically been confined to specific disciplines

• Bridging the gap: Interdisciplinary approaches engage the public and inspire future generations

• Role models matter: Women and girls, in particular, need to see knowledge as a tool for societal change

The bottom line: Interdisciplinary research fosters engagement and tackles societal challenges.

Video transcript

"We are moving towards interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches of research. So the past decade, the past century was much highlighted by very specific or limited focus on your own discipline of research and the fact that you are well kept in your lab, well funded, your publishing and high-cited and peer-reviewed journals and going to conferences, meeting people from your scientific community. But we have seen how this affected our societies, as well, because there is a big gap between people who produce cutting edge technology and do scientific work and between the more wider layman or generic population.

"[ ] We are trying to bridge this gap. We are trying to get people more engaged and more interested in science. Also, to be able to be like role models to newer generations, for me, especially, to women or to little girls and so that they would realize and understand that knowledge is power — and it's a way to tackle many of the societal problems that we have like conflicts, violence, racism, sexism and all."

[Transcript generated by AI with human review]