multidisziplinäres

Multidisziplinäres is an adjective used in German to describe activities, teams, and approaches that involve and integrate multiple disciplines. It is the attributive neuter form of multidisziplinär and emphasizes collaboration across fields to address problems that cannot be fully solved within a single discipline. The concept is common in science, education, medicine, engineering, and the humanities, and appears in phrases such as multidisziplinäres Team, multidisziplinäres Forschungsprojekt, or multidisziplinäres Curriculum.

In practice, multidisziplinäre Ansätze bring together specialists from different areas who contribute their expertise while maintaining distinct methods. This can be contrasted with interdisziplinär approaches, where integration of concepts and methods is more pronounced, and with transdisziplinär work, which seeks knowledge beyond academic disciplines and often includes external stakeholders.

Advantages include a broader evidence base, innovative solutions, and better real-world applicability. Challenges involve coordinating schedules, aligning terminologies and standards, balancing disciplinary priorities, and ensuring effective communication among team members. Successful execution often requires clear goals, defined roles, and structured collaboration processes to avoid fragmentation and turf wars.

Typical use cases include a multidisziplinäres Forschungsvorhaben to study a health issue from genomic, clinical, and social perspectives; a multidisziplinäres Curriculum that combines courses from several departments; or a multidisziplinäres Behandlungsteam in hospitals, such as a tumor board.

See also: Interdisziplinarität, Transdisziplinarität, Cross-Disziplinarität.