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Interdisciplinary Research

Fifty years ago scientists began measuring carbon dioxide continuously from on top of Hawaii's Mauna Loa, the largest volcano in the world. This October CU-Boulder researchers led by David Noone, a climate scientist with CU-Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences , along with Assistant Professor Joe Galewsky of the University of New Mexico will set up the first real-time experiments there to track Earth's most abundant, and arguably most important heat-trapping gas: water.
>> In the news: Special Report

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Interdisciplinay Graduate Certificates

Procedures for Reauthorization of Centers, Bureaus, and Laboratories

CU-Boulder is a national model for interdisciplinary work, with a long history of cooperative research and teaching that has become an inherent part of the campus culture. This is one of our unique strengths, and it results in research and knowledge with a deeper, more meaningful impact on the state, the country, and the world.

Calling on our stellar faculty across all disciplines, the interdisciplinary work is supported and enhanced by several means:

Research Initiatives

Research Institutes and Centers

Research Partnerships

Research Collaboration between Departments

Explore each of the above sections to learn more about them.

Other key initiatives across campus address societal needs at the state, national, and global levels.

Beyond the five strategic initiatives described above, CU-Boulder’s schools and colleges also have launched a number of key initiatives that are both discipline-specific and interdisciplinary. These strategies address societal needs at the state, national and global levels in areas such as materials, health care, security, communications, energy, natural resources, and education. Examples include:

• An international education program has been initiated by the College of Music, with Study Abroad cooperative arrangements with the Renmin University in Beijing and the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia.
• Under a general heading of "Engineering for Global Society," the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences has launched key initiatives in material sciences and engineering, bioengineering and biotechnology, aerospace systems science and engineering, computational science and engineering, energy systems and environmental sustainability, and engineering education research and assessment.
• The anthropology department has a focus on local and global dynamics in human development.
• The communications department is working toward the creation of an interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Conflict, Collaboration and Creative Governance with a focus on communication to reduce conflict and enhance sustainability.
• The department of speech, language and hearing sciences is collaborating with the Colorado Department of Education, Colorado school districts, and other universities to address the immediate and critical need for well-trained speech-language pathologists to help people who face communication challenges.
• The School of Journalism and Mass Communication has established the Center for Media, Religion, and Culture which is examining the nature and evolution of religion in the media age.
• The Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS) brings together more than 50 faculty members from a wide variety of departments and programs in the humanities and social sciences to explore medieval and early modern culture across the globe from 400 - 1800.