By taking an interdisciplinary approach, faculty can have real-world impact and offer students active learning opportunities
Multidisciplinary research is necessary to solve many of the major research challenges in this decade and the next one, says Chaturong Napathorn, assistant dean for research at Thammasat Business School.
“This type of research is designed to help us enhance problem-solving in critical social issues and provides flexibility and clarity in conceptual thinking,” he says. Thammasat University actively encourages multidisciplinary research. This type of research pulls together researchers from different disciplines to work together on a common theme, research question or hypothesis.
Whether it is the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, super-aged societies or AI in the workplace, multidisciplinary research “can help us solve critical issues or grand challenges in our society”, he says.
While multidisciplinary research can yield positive and innovative results, it can be challenging. “Typically, researchers like to work with people in the same discipline. It’s easier to communicate, to improve on research ideas and come up with solutions to problems,” Napathorn says. “The main challenge to multidisciplinary research is a lack of common understanding.”
To encourage researchers to collaborate across disciplines and overcome these challenges, Thammasat University offers scholarships and awards to researchers who have successfully implemented multidisciplinary projects. There is also a focus on practical interventions, not just publication in peer-reviewed journals. “We’re trying to deliver not just papers but also research projects that have social impacts or environmental impacts,” he says.
Collaborating across fields promotes practical solutions to societal problems. “We are trying to encourage collaboration among researchers across various fields including human resource management, marketing, political science, sociology, diversity management, information systems and operations management,” says Napathorn, who is based at Thammasat Business School. “We want them to work together to tackle sustainability challenges and create solutions to solve problems in society.”
An example is the emergence of the super-aged society. Thailand is among the fastest ageing societies in the world, according to the World Health Organisation. One in 10 residents are above the age of 60. “Our financial infrastructure and welfare system are not sufficient to give people enough savings to live happily after retirement,” says Napathorn. “We encourage our faculty members to work with faculty from other schools and outside the university and country to solve the issues in our society.”
This knowledge should extend beyond the researcher and filter down to students, he says. “We have also tried to encourage our professors and researchers to engage with students through active learning and active teaching. That way, students can apply what they have learned in class in their real-world contexts,” he says. “If we just teach students out of textbooks, it’s not enough in this fast-changing world.”
Napathorn recommends that researchers engage with academics outside of their fields at conferences. “Talking and chatting with professors or researchers across disciplines, especially at national and international conferences, will help researchers learn how to situate themselves in multidisciplinary research projects,” he says. “You should not just stay and talk to people within your field.”
