What is the difference between multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research?
As noted in the NIH Roadmap initiative, a multidisciplinary approach brings together numerous experts from diverse disciplines to collectively address a complex problem, with each expert addressing the problem from the perspective of his or her own discipline. In contrast, an interdisciplinary approach is what results from the melding of two or more disciplines to create a new (interdisciplinary) science. Biophysics, biostatistics, bioinformatics, bioengineering, social neuroscience, and psychoneuroimmunology are just a few examples of interdisciplinary sciences.