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A Multidisciplinary Research Programme (MRP) is being developed since 1989 in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Spain, to support cross-disciplinary research projects. This paper analyses the incidence of interdisciplinarity in the UCM scientific publications over the period 1990-96 and tries to determine the success of the Programme at fostering cross-disciplinary research. Interdisciplinary in the UCM is measured through the collaboration of authors from different institutional addresses within the UCM, both in scientific publications and in research projects. Publications jointly signed by the different teams that collaborate in the projects were identified as an indicator of the success of the Programme in integrating disciplines, hrterdisciplinary collaboration within the UCM showed an upward trend over time. Publications of MRP groups showed a higher interdisciplinary collaboration rate than the rest of the UCM (17% vs.9%). Dramatic repercussions of the Programme were not expected due to its limited magnitude, but it worked as a catalyst, enhancing interdisciplinary relations within the UCM. The interest of such a programme is supported by its effects, both direct effects on granted teams and indirect on the whole UCM community.

Interdisciplinarity is analyzed in three different research areas: Pharmacology & Pharmacy, Cardiovascular System and Materials Science, by means of data collected from a survey to Spanish scientists. The study focuses on three different and complementary dimensions. First, diversity in personal training and research specialization of scientists is analyzed both in the field and within the research teams. Secondly, research practices and behavior of the groups are considered, taking into account the use of cross-disciplinary knowledge or techniques and the collaboration with scientists from other disciplines. The third dimension refers to the cognitive inputs and outputs of the research activity and focuses on the diversity of subjects of the journals used for publication and for reference by the research teams. Interdisciplinarity emerges in research areas as a double edge process: either as a process of jumping into a new area with people of different disciplines, in coherence with the traditional disciplinary research teams, or as a process of specialization in field traditionally dominated by a single group of disciplinary backgrounds, in which researchers from different areas join the research teams. Thus specialization-fragmentation-hybridization come all-together.

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