EAGER: Assessing the Interdisciplinarity and Research Networking Impacts of the Human and Social Dynamics Priority Area Program

Search Technology Inc, Norcross GA

Investigators

Abstract

This EAGER project will test a novel method for determining the relative value of promoting interdisciplinarity of research projects. Specifically, the research team will investigate the effectiveness of the Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) priority area awards. Using a novel method to test how well the HSD program has been at stimulating research that crosses disciplinary, organizational, institutional, and geographic boundaries, this project will examine research teaming and research community networking characteristics, as well as measure the interdisciplinarity of publications by HSD researchers. This EAGER project will support exploratory and potentially transformative, work to study interdisciplinary perspectives. This project will perform non-traditional program evaluation in refining measures of the interdisciplinarity of a subset of NSF research. Using the HSD program as a proof of concept, the PI will test his novel methodologies. The project also explores alternative ways to visualize (map) such research, how it fits within the map of science, and social network dynamics. It also explores novel data sources for such assessments in seeking to ascertain the characteristics of especially fruitful research and the transfer of that knowledge across other research areas and beyond. Broader impacts of this project are expected to be strong. If the proof of concept is successful, this project could lead to a very exciting method for assessing the value of funding of interdisciplinary research. The findings of this research should point to ways to facilitate interdisciplinary research knowledge interchange. This assessment should help point to what research approaches best enable such groundbreaking work and offer insights to enrich graduate training programs to enhance young researchers' networking and interdisciplinary skills.