An Introduction to Interdisciplinary Research is a handbook on interdisciplinarity and its background, and a manual on conducting interdisciplinary research for undergraduates and beyond. Although several books have been written about interdisciplinary research, providing rich theoretical descriptions of and hands-on approaches to the topic, this handbook is a more condensed resource focusing on students in the social and natural sciences. The most relevant comparison can be drawn with Allen Repko's seminal Interdisciplinary Research: Process and Theory, 2nd ed. (2012). Repko's book served as an important source of inspiration and information for us. Having used Repko's book for several years in our interdisciplinary research seminars, we felt the need for another book that would differ in several respects from Repko's valuable book. As a result, our book mainly focuses on European students, whereas Repko's book seems to be primarily addressing undergraduate students from institutions in the US and Canada. This is why our book primarily contains examples of research carried out in Europe. Furthermore, we focus on students with majors in the social and natural sciences and less on those who major in the humanities or liberal arts and sciences. We have also included a thorough description of complexity, which we and others consider to be a main driving force behind interdisciplinarity. However, the most significant difference to Repko's manual concerns size. We explicitly aimed to produce a more condensed book that is practical, to the point, and clear.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part – The Handbook – gives a brief overview of interdisciplinarity and provides fundamental information about the origins of interdisciplinary research, what it entails, when it can be applied, and why it should be applied. The second part of the book – The Manual – focuses on the step-by-step process and sets out instructions on how to undertake interdisciplinary research. The third part contains a model example of an interdisciplinary project and the career stories of some interdisciplinary scholars.

Many questions surround interdisciplinary research. How does it differ from disciplinary research? What does it demand from the interdisciplinary researcher? What potential does it have that disciplinary research does not offer? It is important to note that interdisciplinary research builds on disciplinary research. When dealing with complex problems, a merely disciplinary approach will not suffice. Such problems necessitate an interdisciplinary approach when scientifically and socially robust answers are sought.