Analyzing knowledge integration in convergence research

A pragmatic concern guides this perspective piece: How might researchers charged with leading convergence research better plan, design, implement, and evaluate the integrative processes and products of their research? We use a self-evaluation approach to assess the integrative processes and products of the first two years of a five-year National Science Foundation Growing Convergence Research project on addressing inland freshwater salinization. To examine the linkages between integration approaches and products, we analyzed the integrative qualities of fifteen research products and the collaborative processes used to generate these products. We found that large, heterogeneous teams with a broad mix of disciplines and professional expertise produced more interdisciplinary research products, but they relied on skilled integration by the leader, more intensive forms of collaboration, and inclusive problem framing. Teams that relied on deliberation by experts and used more consultative or cooperative mechanisms for engagement produced research that was more uni- or multi-disciplinary. We consider the efficacy of the various knowledge integration approaches used in this research and share empirically derived recommendations for designing, implementing, and evaluating convergence research. Our findings and lessons provide researchers at the helm of large-scale convergence and transdisciplinary research projects that address complex socio-environmental problems guidance on: (1) the planning and designing of projects with the explicit goal of knowledge integration; (2) the selection and implementation of appropriate knowledge integration approaches and tools; and (3) how knowledge integration can be conceptualized and evaluated for socio-environmental problems.