Subject: Interdisciplinary Integration Research Careers Hub

Description: The Interdisciplinary Integrative Research Careers Hub, or (Intereach) listserv (Intereach@duke.edu) is maintained by Duke University. A new class of scientific leadership roles have emerged that are critical to synthesis of complex research, but which are not yet explicitly defined, understood, or valued in context of their importance within the research life cycle. The people in these roles provide intellectual leadership and boundary expertise across disciplines, working to integrate knowledge and perspectives among participating stakeholders to help maximize scientific and translational success in large, interdisciplinary team science initiatives. While such initiatives represent growing number of national investments in addressing complex problems, there are not yet established career paths, clear success metrics, best practice methods, or training resources. There are issues of undervaluation of the intellectual contributions this specific expertise brings. These combined factors result in sub-optimal research outcomes and sub-optimal talent recruitment. The Intereach listserv provides the foundation for knowledge sharing open to all interested stakeholders, with a mission to support an active community of practice and research around the interdisciplinary and integrative functions critical to team research, steeped in the valuable knowledge offered in relevant team science literature, and informed by administrative and institutional insights.