The whole group of conference attendees poses together in front of the manor's white facade and wooden door in the evening sun.
The Researcher Residency is organised by the SLU Future Platforms and was held for the fifth time, with the aim of strengthening interdisciplinary research at SLU and creating new links and collaborations between research fields. Researchers from different departments, faculties and research fields across SLU came together, sharing a curiosity about what interdisciplinary perspectives could bring to their research. Photo: Teresia Borgman, SLU.

New perspectives on preparedness across research disciplines

Page reviewed:  17/09/2026

How can researchers from very different fields contribute to a more prepared and resilient society? At this year’s Researcher Residency, SLU researchers came together to explore preparedness from different perspectives – and discovered new connections between their research along the way.

On 25–26 August, researchers from across SLU gathered at Philipssonska Gården outside Strängnäs for two days of interdisciplinary discussions, networking and exchange of ideas. Organised by the SLU Future Platforms, the Researcher Residency aims to strengthen interdisciplinary research at SLU and create new links and collaborations between research fields.

This year, the theme was preparedness, with a focus on robustness and resilience in relation to societal challenges. Discussions covered areas such as food security and safety, crops and livestock, animal welfare and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and the effects of climate change.

Through inspirational talks, group discussions and joint development of research ideas, participants were encouraged to look beyond their own disciplines and explore how different perspectives could contribute to common challenges.

Seeing preparedness from a broader perspective

For Sajeevan Radha Sivarajan, Associate Professor at the Department of Plant Protection Biology, the theme had a clear connection to his research on plant stress, crop resilience and sustainable food production.

Before the residency, he had primarily considered preparedness in relation to food security and how agricultural systems can respond to climate change, emerging plant diseases and other threats to food production. Discussions with researchers from other disciplines broadened that perspective.

“The discussions helped me understand that preparedness is much broader than food production alone. It includes interconnected environmental, animal, plant and human health, societal, and institutional challenges.”

Despite the participants’ different research backgrounds, Sajeevan also saw common ground in the questions they were trying to address – including uncertainty, risk, resilience and how research can support better decision-making.

For him, the open exchange between disciplines was one of the most valuable parts of the residency.

“The discussions demonstrated how combining different perspectives can lead to new questions, project ideas, and collaborations. Complex challenges such as climate change, food security, and societal preparedness cannot be addressed by one discipline alone.”

Finding unexpected connections

The interdisciplinary discussions also revealed connections that were difficult to see from within a single research field.

Zhejian (Jerry) Cao, Researcher in Inorganic and Physical Chemistry at the Department of Molecular Sciences, joined SLU in March 2026. He saw the residency as an opportunity both to build a network within SLU and to meet junior and senior researchers working in very different fields.

Jerry is a materials scientist working on AMR-related topics. During a group discussion on AMR in animals, the conversation initially moved into areas far removed from his own research, including farm management, disease prevention and farmer education.

But as the discussion developed, new links to materials chemistry began to emerge. The group considered, for example, whether antibacterial materials could help reduce biofilm contamination in water pipes and flooring, and whether filters or inorganic catalysts could help degrade antibiotic residues.

“It broadened my horizons. Instead of directly killing bacteria, there are so many other ways that materials science can contribute to mitigating AMR issues.”

For Jerry, this also illustrated the value of bringing different stakeholders and disciplines into a discussion before narrowing down a research question.

“A good combination of broad thinking and in-depth research is necessary to tackle and prepare for the challenges in the future.”

Stepping outside your own research field

Sheila Holmes, Researcher at the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, was already familiar with preparedness as an important topic in animal ecology. What was new was considering how those concepts could connect with research areas further from her own.

One of her main takeaways was that contributing to an interdisciplinary project does not necessarily mean that the project has to start from your own field of expertise.

“The biggest insight was how to step back a bit to see how my research themes and expertise could support a project with a main theme that differed substantially from my main focus.”

She also found more overlap between research fields than she had expected – and saw curiosity as an important driver for researchers willing to move outside their disciplinary comfort zones.

This became particularly clear when participants worked together to develop research ideas during the residency.

“It was really encouraging to see that a group of strangers could come together and cooperatively form and flesh out a new research idea in such a short time.”

For Sheila, the process itself became one of the most inspiring aspects of the two days: researchers initially unsure of how their expertise fitted into an idea challenged one another to reconsider what they could contribute.

“We challenged each other to put ourselves back into the idea and see how it could fit, and what we could bring to the table personally. That was a fun experience.”

Creating space for new research ideas

Across the different discussions, a common theme emerged: preparedness looks different depending on where you start – but many of the underlying challenges are shared.

Bringing together researchers from plant science, chemistry, animal ecology and other fields created an opportunity to identify connections that might otherwise remain unexplored. The residency also provided dedicated time to move beyond everyday research activities, test ideas with colleagues and consider how individual expertise could contribute to broader societal challenges.

The Researcher Residency is organised by the SLU Future Platforms and was held for the fifth time in 2026.