Developing interdisciplinary researchers : caring for those who dare interdisciplinary research

Addressing increasingly complex social and organizational problems often require inter-disciplinary research (IDR) to be fully understood and – potentially – resolved. This need has been demonstrated in IDR approaches to business issues (such as global trade and innovation), and social issues, especially in public management fields (such as health care and environmental programs). Despite the evident need for IDR it is a complex, collaborative mode of research which is particularly demanding for those that seek to engage in it. For this reason this workshop seeks to introduce an example approach to the development of researchers seeking to engage with interdisciplinary approaches, as a prelude to the collaborative development of new ways of addressing this development need