Duke Receives Global Recognition for Interdisciplinary Science

Times Higher Education Rankings lists Duke at No. 5 in the world for interdisciplinary science

Imagine drone footage from about 300 feet above West Campus.

Looking down, you see the medical and nursing schools, Duke Engineering, Nicholas School of the Environment, Divinity School, natural sciences departments, along with many social science and humanities departments, and the library – all a short distance apart.

It's a visual representation of interdisciplinary research and education at Duke – a strategic focus since the 1980s in which faculty collaborate across diverse subject areas to achieve shared goals through collaboration.

On Thursday, that focus received global recognition. Times Higher Education’s inaugural Interdisciplinary Science Rankings placed Duke at No. 5 out of 749 institutions in 92 countries. MIT was first, followed by Stanford, Singapore’s National University of Singapore, California Institute of Technology, Duke then the University of Minnesota.

“This reflects three years of consultation with the sector and the importance of and global appetite for interdisciplinary research,” according to a Times press release announcing the results, which were in partnership with Schmidt Science Fellows.

“The top five universities all have a strong focus on engineering and technology. They also have interdisciplinarity woven into their DNA from undergraduate education to postgraduate programs and research centers. Their interdisciplinary aspirations are well supported in terms of funding and administrative support.”

Duke blends interdisciplinary research with educational opportunities at all levels, often integrating extensive community and policy engagement. Ed Balleisen, Duke’s vice provost for interdisciplinary studies since 2015, noted that these avenues for experiential learning and interdisciplinary education, like Focus, Bass Connections and the Summer + programs, reach more than half of Duke students.

Since the early 2000s, Duke has had an Office of Interdisciplinary Studies to coordinate the work of major cross-school interdisciplinary activities, create interdisciplinary communities of practice, spearhead strategic initiatives, and ensure that cross-school endeavors complement and amplify the work going on within the schools. 

Duke has revised tenure and promotion standards to recognize and reward interdisciplinary research and public-facing scholarship. 

“Interdisciplinarity has become Duke’s secret sauce. The imperative now is adapt our interdisciplinary ecosystem to engage with the evolving issues of our time, whether the impacts of AI, the challenges posed by climate change, or the erosion of public trust in so many institutions.”

Ed Balleisen, vice provost for interdisciplinary studies

Across campus, faculty and students inhabit a growing set of buildings populated to foster interactions across disciplinary lines. 

Duke also offers a robust set of internal funding opportunities to encourage cross-school collaborations.

Science-based programs include:

“Interdisciplinarity has become Duke’s secret sauce,” Balleisen said. “The imperative now is adapt our interdisciplinary ecosystem to engage with the evolving issues of our time, whether the impacts of AI, the challenges posed by climate change, or the erosion of public trust in so many institutions.”

Balleisen shared the steps toward building a successful interdisciplinary system at research universities during a keynote talk Thursday at the Interdisciplinary Science Forum.

These include:

  • Faculty recruitment: Joint appointments, cluster hires;
  • Creation of interdisciplinary “neighborhoods”;
  • Faculty incentives such as seed grants and recognition through tenure and promotion;
  • Infrastructure for coordination, i.e. institutes and centers, and mechanisms to foster equitable community-engaged scholarship and commercialization;
  • Interdisciplinary inquiry in education that includes joint degree programs; majors, minors and certificates; and vehicles for participation in intensive collaborative projects.