SecHuman

Problems in today's world cannot be solved alone. Whether innovations on the technology market, the implementation of a complex operation or the strengthening of empowerment in an urban district - as soon as an existing body of knowledge is to be expanded or even new knowledge discovered, the thought processes of several different experts are required.

Interdisciplinary work occurs when two or more different disciplines work together to solve a common problem or work on a task.

Disciplines describe different areas of expertise in science (e.g. psychology, mathematics, archaeology) and private Business Studies (law, human resources, IT).

It is also possible to work alone, i.e. without a team, in an interdisciplinary manner. In this case, the individual independently combines theories, methods and/or questions from several different disciplines to produce a result.

Transdisciplinary work goes beyond interdisciplinary work and takes place when different scientific disciplines also work together with non-scientific actors.

Knowledge integration as a process and result of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work can be divided into three levels:

The first processual level describes integration at the superordinate, organizational level. This is where the composition of the participating actors takes place, as well as the temporal framing. Issues relating to spatial proximity for cooperation and the creation of incentive structures are evaluated in order to facilitate the integration of knowledge as much as possible.

The methodological level involves the selection of suitable methods for involving the actors in the research process. An overview of knowledge integration methods can be found, for example, at the Swiss Academies of Sciences.

The cognitive level describes the inter- and intra-individual consolidation of knowledge. Specifically, this involves cognitive processes that lead to heterogeneous knowledge being linked, combined and ultimately restructured. This means that we focus on people in our investigations.

What mental processes take place when different types of knowledge are linked together? What individual skills and abilities do experts in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work bring to the table in order to integrate knowledge more effectively? And above all: How can we support cognitive knowledge integration to contribute to successful inter- and transdisciplinary work? These are all questions we are addressing.