By David Eisner, University of Manchester UK, Chair of Steering Group for The Future of Interdisciplinary Research Beyond REF 2021
I am delighted to have chaired the Steering Group responsible for the launch of The Physiological Society’s most recent policy report The Future of Interdisciplinary Research Beyond REF 2021. This new report makes recommendations on how we can increase the quantity of interdisciplinary research and address current barriers within the research ecosystem.
The report looks at not only the future of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) but related factors within the research ecosystem too such as the publishing landscape. This broader analysis has given us the opportunity to build on successes in other parts of the research landscape.
The role of interdisciplinary research in addressing research questions posed by global social, economic, ecological and political changes is widely recognised.
It is timely that this report should launch as delegates are meeting in Glasgow for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (also known as COP26), to discuss how the world will meet its ‘Net Zero’ commitments by 2050.
Achieving these targets will require creative and innovative solutions that draw on all the physical, life and social sciences. Beyond the climate crisis, interdisciplinary science is fundamentally important in other areas of research including better understanding and modulating the ageing process.
Physiology is by nature an interdisciplinary science –understanding how fundamental processes work and interact with other systems in the body in good health to then understand how to respond to ill health. My own research for example, is focused on cellular physiology in the heart but by understanding this, we can better understand what causes heart disease and its impact on other organs and systems in the body.
As such, ensuring that interdisciplinary science is fully recognised as part of the next research assessment process will not only support the prioritisation of physiology, but other interdisciplinary disciplines too. This project has also been an excellent opportunity to hear directly from those responsible for reviewing and adapting the next research assessment cycle about concerns raised by the research community with the current system and the policy options that have been presented about how to address them.
This puts The Society in a strong position to help inform the consultation process in the coming months and years. The most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) cycle not only provides benchmarking information for use within the higher education sector and the wider public but is also responsible for the competitive allocation of over £2 billion of public funding for research. This financial pressure gives extra focus on the need to ensure the outputs of interdisciplinary research are fully recognised.
Over time interdisciplinary research can re-shape the landscape creating new fields that consolidate from interdisciplinary origins and combine skills that were previously disparate. That we are launching this report in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic is another timely reminder that interdisciplinary research is a prerequisite for tackling major societal challenges.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in the Steering Group and those researchers that took the time to develop and share the case studies that are dotted throughout the report. Their contributions have undoubtedly shaped and strengthened the final report and, I hope, sparked conversations and potential collaborations that will extend beyond the life of the project.
Click here to read the full report.