It was all about research and embracing its inter-, multi- and trans-disciplinary nature at the Faculty of Science Special Monthly Seminar held on Thursday, December 2, 2021 at LT018, Faculty of Science.
Speaking at the seminar as the Keynote Speaker, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe, FAS, spoke on the topic: “Research Beyond Borders: Embracing Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity in the Academia”,defined disciplinarity, its various types – multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity. He categorised disciplinarity into 2, namely: parallel and integrative disciplinarity. He then highlighted the various types of research and the research processes.
Afterwards, he urged academia in the University of Lagos to embrace interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity, while stating some of the reasons to embrace the concepts which signified research beyond borders to include:
- unprecedented increase of knowledge, disciplines and branches;
- knowledge transfer (lab to real world);
- dynamic work environment;
- solution to complex problems, values and priorities;
- globalization;
- communication across variety of borders of knowledge cultures, etc.
He also noted the goals of transdisciplinarity and its prospects, highlighted the contributions to practical solving and disciplinary research, comparative characteristics of disciplinary research and the opportunities available to academia when research beyond borders is embraced.
In conclusion, Prof. Ogundipe pointed out that interdisciplinarity research cannot and should not replace good disciplinary research; there might be need to learn to combine and coordinate diverse approaches, methods and perspectives, since not all problems can be solved by discrete disciplines; and the flow of knowledge is embedded in studying the interrelations of interactions between these specialised disciplines.
