Campus Talks: How interdisciplinary research can benefit early career academics

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For early career researchers, stepping outside your field can be complicated in terms of, among other things, publishing and career progression. But it can also open young academics to new methodologies, research opportunities and ideas that enrich their work. And in a world of complex challenges, the ability to integrate expertise across disciplines will only become more valuable.

For this episode, we talk to Philippe Blaettchen, assistant professor of operations management in the Lee Kong Chian School of Business at Singapore Management University. His interdisciplinary paper “From trees to treewidth: inventory management in complex supply chain networks” recently won the INFORMS Computing Society’s Harvey J. Greenberg Research Award, which recognises contributions with promise for significant impact in practice. Co-written with Andre Calmon at Georgia Institute of Technology, Mohit Tawarmalani from Purdue University and Georgina Hall from Insead, the paper draws on operations management, decision sciences and computer science. Blaettchen also won the 2022 TIMES (technology, innovation management and entrepreneurship section) Doctoral Dissertation Award.

His research on emerging technologies, sustainable operations and supply chain management is a clear example of how interdisciplinary work is key to solving real-world challenges. This conversation covers how projects come together, when to introduce interdisciplinarity in teaching, and the value of asking questions outside disciplinary silos.

The latest Campus spotlight guide looks at the keys to effective interdisciplinary research, with advice from experts from around the world.

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