EAGER: Exploratory research on the dynamics of convergence in interdisciplinary teams

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

The Toolbox Dialogue Initiative (TDI) team proposes to conduct research on convergence which will help Growing Convergence Research (GCR) and other convergence-focused programs crystallize unique features of different types of convergence and provide more guidance to future awardees. TDI team will work directly with GCR awardees through project-focused Toolbox workshops to help them realize their convergence cultures. They will also make the online resources curated by TDI available to all GCR awardees and more broadly to other individuals and teams conducting convergence research. The project will include theoretical research designed to relate convergence to integration and cross-disciplinarity, and empirical research to identify different ways in which convergence is operationalized across funded projects. This research will connect the convergence literature more closely with the literature on integration and cross-disciplinarity, and it will also assist those pursuing convergence research in GCR, other NSF programs, and beyond to be more explicit in designing and delivering convergence. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.