Network Based Methodology for Characterizing Interdisciplinary Expertise in Emerging Research

Funding agencies and researchers are placing increasing emphasis on interdisciplinary research (IDR) to promote innovation and to address complex real-world problems. Understanding characteristics of IDR early (as soon as projects get funded), can formatively shape a research community at portfolio, project, and individual investigator levels. This involves surfacing the interacting components and the context that manifest IDR. We present a network-based methodology to model and analyze IDR, and apply it to a three-year portfolio of awards in the Research on Emerging Technologies for Teaching and Learning program. Our IDR analysis features two network-based metrics (1) diversity of expertise and (2) intensity of inter-expertise collaboration. It reveals the organization of the 116 expertise areas that form the “building blocks” for IDR in this community, while also highlighting potential for knowledge integration, specifically within “hotspot” topics. It also reveals gaps in IDR potential. Applying our network-based methodology for understanding IDR could enable other research domains and communities to conduct early and rapid analyses of the emerging IDR profile in their network, and could inform formative efforts to strengthen IDR.