Description: Convergence Research (CR) is gaining prominence as a research, development, and innovation strategy to address research and societal challenges. However, there are many questions regarding what defines research as “convergent” and how its success is assessed in terms of implementation and outcomes. This webinar presents what we learned about CR through an exploratory study conducted in 2020-2021. We discuss what the literature and practitioners say about CR regarding 1) What it is, 2) How it is practiced, 3) What we need to understand it better, and 4) How to define and assess success. Using data collected through a combination of methods—literature reviews, bibliometrics, and interviews—we offer a definition that highlights the unique features of CR as a complex, multi-level system-of-systems that has emerged from and merged extant research traditions, specifically traditions involving the subsystems of collaboration, inquiry, and context.  We use insights from this scan to identify paths for empirical exploration of how CR functions at the individual, team, and institutional levels. Most critically, we raise questions about potential criteria for determining the success of what has been accomplished. We end with audience participation in discussing the relevance of our findings for the INTEREACH Community.

Speakers:

• Joy Frechtling, PhD., Vice President at Westat

• Lisa Christen Gajary, Ph.D., Consultant at Caspian Strategy & Analytics LLC, and Adjunct Faculty at The Ohio State University

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