The future of interdisciplinarity: The case of Swiss universities

Interdisciplinarity at the universities is a heterogeneous phenomenon not easily described in general terms. Widespread agreement does, however, exist that interdisciplinary work can be meaningful only if it uses the established academic disciplines as its point of departure. Most of such work is aimed at the solution of complex problems, at gaining an overview of work carried out by other disciplines, or at dealing with the ethical dimension of scholarly and scientific endeavour. Despite numerous programmes for promoting interdisciplinary activities, the status of interdisciplinarity at universities in Switzerland remains marginal. Interdisciplinarity faces problems at several levels. There are, however, successful strategies for dealing with all of these difficulties. Some proposals for promoting interdisciplinarity are presented as well.