210 Chapter 7 between these disciplines, which this PhD trajectory tried to bridge, go far beyond the methods they use. Differences include how research questions are approached, the setting up of collaborations and ways of working in co-authorship, and the publication objectives and outlets, including drafting styles and timings. Systematically mapping these differences and reflecting on what drives them can contribute to creating an interface that effectively supports interdisciplinary work between health sciences and economics. Initiatives and funding for inter- and multidisciplinary work are increasingly common in Academia as it was the case of Smarter Choices for Better Health, the Erasmus Initiative that funded my trajectory. These attempts to change the academic research paradigm follow from the recognition that bringing different scientific methods and knowledge together should promote more impactful research in tackling societal challenges. Theoretically, this seems to be the appropriate way to move academic research towards societal impact. In practice, the efforts to boost interdisciplinary research often lack the power to promote the structural changes needed to support this approach. For instance, interdisciplinary initiatives often bring together senior researchers from each field by funding joint PhD or junior researchers. The success of such a bottom-up approach is compromised by relying on researchers just starting their trajectories to act as catalysts, at the same time that they are expected to become experts in a single field. The rigid academic culture and structures and the minimal institutional incentives increase the challenge’s size. Below, I list some difficulties experienced during my interdisciplinary trajectory. I do also suggest potential solutions to tackle these pitfalls, despite which I remain a strong proponent of the interdisciplinary approach. The first challenge relates to research environments. Because few academic departments or groups are genuinely interdisciplinary, the junior researcher will usually be physically and contractually based in one of the disciplines and visiting the other. While this experience can be enriching, it does mean extra time to accompany and benefit from the two distinct environments (e.g. attending meetings and seminars in both, engaging with colleagues in writing groups, setting up research collaborations, among others). As with most of the interdisciplinary experience, this does not immediately reflect in the publication output at the core of PhD performance but rather in the research profile being built. Therefore, interdisciplinary initiatives must recognise that there is no immediate return to these interdisciplinary efforts and include additional performance metrics that reward the researchers actively engaging in them. The second challenge relates to communication. Different fields speak different languages, so they often say the same without understanding each other. In the case of this thesis, where I am originally from the health sciences side, it was often tough to express myself in economic terms to write econometric notation, among others. A solution to this challenge relies on increasing awareness around the communication barriers and having each side internalise that expressing concepts or methods in different terms does
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