Interdisciplinarily

Interdisciplinarily is an adverb used to describe actions, research, or practices carried out in an interdisciplinary manner—that is, by integrating theories, methods, and data from multiple disciplines to address a shared question or problem. It emphasizes the process of synthesis across disciplinary boundaries rather than within a single field. For example, an urban resilience study might interdisciplinarily integrate climatology, sociology, economics, and civil engineering.

The term derives from interdisciplinary, with interdisciplinarity as the corresponding noun. Interdisciplinarily is relatively rare in everyday writing; many authors instead say "in an interdisciplinary manner" or "across disciplines." The choice of form can affect perceived formality or exactness.

Applications are common in research, education, and policy. In research, teams work interdisciplinarily to develop holistic models, combine qualitative and quantitative methods, or translate findings into practice. In education, curricula and programs may be designed to foster interdisciplinary thinking by blending courses from multiple departments. In policy-making, interdisciplinarily informed analyses can help address complex societal problems such as health equity or climate risk.

Advantages include broader perspectives, innovative solutions, and better problem framing; challenges include communication barriers, epistemological differences, incompatible methods, and uneven credit or funding for collaborative work.

See also interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary.