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Disciplines confer many advantages, not least by placing boundaries around bodies of knowledge which facilitates efficient teaching and provides guidance about adequate concepts and methodologies. Quality can often be more readily tested against disciplinary criteria. Set against this, there is increasing recognition of the advantages of interdisciplinary approaches. The world of policy and practice transcends disciplinary divides; tackling research challenges which address complex problems necessitates a change to traditional discipline-based research strategies. But effective interdisciplinary working does not simply happen. As well as the obvious barriers to communication between different specialisms, interdisciplinary research may encounter institutional barriers–departmental structures, management systems and career pathways that are often based around disciplines. These challenges need to be managed if individual researchers and centres are to build effective and successful programmes of interdisciplinary research.

This short note is intended to provide leaders of interdisciplinary research groups (including centres and programmes) with some preliminary guidance on developing interdisciplinary research strategies. It will touch on issues such as:• Building a shared research vision and joint sense of identity across disciplines• Helping individuals develop their expertise and a long-term research strategy• Accessing resources and sharing the credit across institutional structures• Rewarding, engaging and balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders (eg