المراكز العلمية والوحدات البحثية : بوابة في تجسير العلوم البينية ( وحدة الابحاث المكانية –كلية التربية للعلوم الانسانية جامعة ديالى انموذجا

Abstract

With the growing interest of research and educational institutions in Iraq in interdisciplinary research with a spatial dimension, it has become imperative to reconsider the methodological and epistemological foundations governing this type of study. This is especially crucial as we witness numerous academic transformations aiming to transcend traditional barriers between human, social, and pure sciences. This trend comes in response to the strategic vision of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the mission of the University of Diyala, and the objectives of the College of Education for Human Sciences toward fostering a shared research vision. This vision stems from pioneering ideas and serves Iraqi society through the integration of sciences, as well as developing and establishing integrated intellectual approaches to study social, human, and pure science phenomena. This paper reflects the need to uncover the significance of interdisciplinary research in analyzing complex issues that cannot be fully comprehended from a single perspective. Through this study, we attempt to guide researchers and assist them in finding an intellectual approach that clears the fog surrounding the integration of sciences where space serves as the foundation. Nevertheless, interdisciplinary research in Iraqi universities still faces multiple challenges, such as institutional constraints, weak funding, and difficulties in academic recognition, alongside issues related to evaluation mechanisms, research methodologies, and the classification of journal scopes in indexed repositories with impact factors, which emphasize research within specific, non-overlapping disciplines. From this standpoint, promoting interdisciplinary research has become an urgent necessity to keep pace with the global development of knowledge in light of rapid cultural, social, technological, and human transformations that demand transdisciplinary approaches. In this context, interdisciplinary research can be described as a means to foster academic innovation and a partnership to solve complex problems that cannot be resolved by a single discipline. The study seeks to reveal the reality of interdisciplinary research in which the spatial dimension plays a role in the phenomenon. It also aims to identify the scientific repositories and formations that can enhance and showcase this intellectual effort, through the study's vision of research institutions in Iraqi universities. A single research institution established two decades ago—the Spatial Research Unit at the University of Diyala—was selected as a case study to identify its scientific achievements and the challenges hindering the development of such research formations within colleges. Furthermore, it aims to explore ways to develop the academic environment to enhance interdisciplinary research within these units. The study also aims to shed light on the regulations and instructions for establishing such units within the legal framework. The Spatial Research Unit was established in 2008 as an academic unit by a ministerial order—emerging from a scientific and administrative structure proposed by the College of Education for Human Sciences—to embrace most disciplines where space is the core of discussion and research. Space, or domain, is where all life systems intersect. Through interdisciplinary research, we attempt to draw a roadmap for the outcomes of the studied phenomenon spatially: before, during, and after its formation. Hence, it was essential to introduce the unit's operational mechanisms and staff, the extent of its impact on the development of human, social, and pure sciences, and how to utilize the recommendations provided in the research adopted by its personnel. This formation represents an academic gateway and a window for dialogue among faculty members from various disciplines. Through this study, we can outline the opportunities and challenges facing spatial interdisciplinary research through constructive criticism of this formation's operational system, evaluating its outputs, and examining academic policies that can contribute to supporting it, via a field experience addressing the theoretical and applied dimensions of the interdisciplinary research accomplished within this formation and the challenges it faces.