What it is like to be a crossdisciplinary researcher...

Welcome, everyone!

As our research is cross-disciplinary, and because such an endeavour comes with its unique challenges, we've decided to dedicate some of the posts on this blog to sharing this particular aspect of our work.

Dr Alecia Carter is a biologist — more precisely, a behavioural ecologist — who also has a deep appreciation for philosophy.

Dr Mathilde Tahar is a philosopher of biology, with a background in both philosophy and biology.

Unfortunately, philosophy and biology don’t always mesh seamlessly, whether in academic studies or in career trajectories...

However, we were lucky enough to be allowed to work together on this research which at the intersection of biological and philosophical inquiries.

• Biology: We study animal behaviour, assess its ecological and evolutionary significance, delve into the structure of play in chacma baboons, and explore the processes by which they invent.

• Philosophy: This research requires us to reflect on forms of non-human creativity, define play and invention in a non-anthropocentric way, and question certain epistemological assumptions.

  
  

We hope that the integration of these two tasks—scientific and philosophical—will result in research that is not only theoretically rigorous but also more comprehensive, combining meticulous observation with thoughtful reflection on the meaning of what we observe.

This research has been made possible through our shared commitment and motivation, the interdisciplinary openness of the Leverhulme Trust, which is funding us, and the supportive environment of the Anthropology Department at UCL, which is hosting our work.

However, we recognise that getting this project off the ground is only the beginning of our crossdisciplinary journey. The true challenge lies in fostering effective collaboration—both between us and beyond—through clear communication, developing a shared vocabulary to bridge concepts, and creating new opportunities for meaningful exchanges. We have several initiatives planned to strengthen this collaboration—not only between us, but also more broadly by bringing together researchers from various fields. We’ll keep you updated on our progress here on the site (or you can subscribe to our newsletter!).