Chapters on Interdisciplinary Research and Research Skills

This book is a special edition, compiled for to the MSc Course Research Methodologies as taught at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology. It is a compilation of useful chapters from several sources on how to structure, set up, carry out and write up your (thesis) research to aid you in writing your research plan. Next to that it acts as a companion during your thesis research. After introducing you to the philosophy of scientific research, subsequent chapters each contribute to the different phases of your research. The book uniquely allows for the often multi- or interdisciplinary research many of you carry out, based on the established Dutch university tradition of (semi-)independent student research, creating a thread through the process for you to follow. This edition is a collection of chapters from An Introduction to Interdisciplinary Research (2016), edited by Steph Menken and Machiel Keestra, and Academic Skills for Interdisciplinary Studies. Revised edition (2019), by Koen van der Gaast, Laura Koenders and Ger Post, published by Amsterdam University Press.

Koen van der Gaast spent three years working as a lecturer for the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies’ Bachelor’s programme in Future Planet Studies, where he lectured on academic skills, among other things. He is now a PhD candidate at Wageningen University & Research and Aeres University of Applied Sciences, Almere.|Machiel Keestra is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (University of Amsterdam) and former president of the Association for Interdisciplinary Studies.|Laura Koenders, PhD, works at the Bachelorprogramme Psychobiology at the University of Amsterdam. Here she teaches Academical Skills, and different courses around the topics neuropsychology, neuroanatomy and research skills.
Prof. S.B.J. Menken is Professor at the University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Science, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics and Scientific Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies.
Ger Post spent five years working at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, including as a lecturer in academic skills for the Bachelor’s programme in Natural and Social Sciences. He now works as an educational specialist at the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Melbourne.