Training for Transdisciplinarity: Critical Competencies for Emerging Social Work Scholars

Contemporary trends press researchers, practitioners, and, by extension, educators toward multi-level cross-disciplinary frameworks, methodologies, funding, and collaborations. Equipping social work graduates for optimal effectiveness in this rapidly moving scientific environment calls for innovation and intentionality in approaches to research preparation. Designed for doctoral students, early career faculty/researchers, mentors, and doctoral program representatives, this session examines both the “what, why, and how” of transdisciplinary research training and its challenges. Through a combination of didactic overviews of changing forms and expectations of research across a range of fields, illustration of key training elements, hands on exercises, and breakout discussion, attendees will leave with conceptual and practical tools to build on in their research and home institutions.