Presented By: Mary Brakke, University of Minnesota
Co-Authors: Aaron Hauger, University of Minnesota

Once the domain of individual researchers, science is now primarily a team enterprise. Small and large teams of researchers from multiple and often disparate disciplines are the drivers of knowledge and innovation. Teams that seek to address complex, real-world issues frequently involve collaboration among researchers from different disciplines as well as partnerships with stakeholders in diverse sectors of society. As part of a NIFA-funded Coordinated Agricultural Project focused on developing pennycress as a novel cash cover crop with economic and ecosystem benefits, we designed a 10-week internship program to prepare students for collaborative, cross-disciplinary research. Project collaborators included researchers at four different universities and one private enterprise in the Midwest. Students completed research projects with one of the following project research teams: plant genetics and breeding, ecosystem services, agronomy, supply chain management, or education/outreach. In addition to completing discipline-specific research projects, students attended talks given by researchers on other teams and regularly interacted with students working with other research teams. We used a mixed methods approach to assess program impacts. Pre- and post-internship surveys provided a subjective assessment of students' research competency and confidence in conducting research. Student interviews were conducted 6 months after students completed the internship program. Recorded interviews were analyzed for emergent themes related to research competency, recognition of disciplinary approaches to research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and skills and abilities important to collaboration. Students reported gains in more than a dozen different research-related activities in which they participated. Student responses suggest that novice researchers gain some awareness and appreciation of differences in research approaches among disciplines as well as skills and abilities important for collaborative, cross-disciplinary research.