Evaluation of the Swiss research programme NRP 72

Interdisciplinarity made measurable in the One Health approach

The Swiss NRP 72 consists of interdisciplinary projects that are researching resistance, active substances and optimised antibiotic use. Following the One-Health approach, the teams are made up of members from a wide range of disciplines, from chemistry to medicine and the social sciences. inter 3, on behalf of the University of Bern, investigated the challenges and potential that the research teams see in this type of collaboration.

Interdisciplinarity made measurable

The accompanying research pursued the goal of shedding light on the forms of interdisciplinary cooperation and identifying specific requirements for research funding. inter 3 developed a suitable study design for this purpose, which combined a quantitative online survey with a document analysis and expert interviews. Specially developed scales were also used to measure the intensity of transdisciplinary cooperation in research teams. inter 3 conducted interviews with researchers from the 42 projects, evaluated the responses and supported the University of Bern in writing the final report.

A common understanding of research is challenging, but worthwhile

Research into antibiotic resistance is highly complex and interdisciplinary teams are essential. The researchers see major challenges in the coordination and establishment of a common research understanding and a common language. At the same time, this form of cooperation forces researchers to reflect more strongly on their own work and thus opens their eyes to new aspects, ideas and approaches to solutions. The One-Health approach is still very young and can be shaped. In order to be able to support inter- and transdisciplinary cooperation in a targeted manner, one must first understand exactly how it works in concrete terms.