Interdisciplinary collaboration is regarded as an important driving force for knowledge innovation, as it can generate new insights and theories by integrating perspectives, methods, and tools from different disciplines. Schumpeter believed that innovation is the recombination of existing production factors into new modes of production, while Brian Uzzi pointed out that knowledge innovation can be understood as the recombination of existing knowledge. According to this logic, the process of interdisciplinary collaboration will result in the reorganization of knowledge, which means that knowledge innovation will occur. In addition, interdisciplinary studies are also an important means of solving complex social problems. Many challenges faced by modern society require the integration of knowledge and skills from different fields to effectively respond. In recent years, science and technology policies from the central government to local governments have been promoting interdisciplinary research in basic research, and a series of national strategic measures aimed at promoting interdisciplinary research have been successively introduced. For example, in November 2020, the National Natural Science Foundation of China established the Interdisciplinary Science Department; In January 2021, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council and the Ministry of Education listed "interdisciplinary" as the 14th discipline category. However, interdisciplinary studies still face challenges. Challenge one is the constraint of scientific research evaluation. In a recent survey conducted by my research team (1213 valid questionnaires), about half of the researchers engaged in basic research stated that they are only willing to engage in interdisciplinary research when it is beneficial for research assessment. This not only involves project funding, but also interdisciplinary research. If funding is easier to obtain, researchers will be more willing to invest in it; It is also related to paper publication, that is, when interdisciplinary research results can receive equal recognition from peers in the same discipline, researchers will be willing to engage in interdisciplinary research. Research projects have become a necessary condition for many researchers to be promoted. Therefore, some researchers who are about to be promoted are more cautious when selecting research topics, as project approval is more important than innovation. In the current research funding system, the funding rate for interdisciplinary research projects is not higher than other projects, which makes researchers lack the willingness to cross disciplines. The journal in which a paper is published and how it is signed have a certain impact on collaboration in interdisciplinary fields. On the one hand, current scientific research evaluations place too much emphasis on the contribution of research to the field, and publishing in journals in this field is more likely to be recognized by peers in the field. On the other hand, only the first author and corresponding author of the paper are recognized, therefore, the degree of participation of each discipline in interdisciplinary research needs to be coordinated according to the author's role. These factors also lead to a lack of willingness among researchers to cross disciplinary fields. In China, both project review and paper review adopt the peer review system. In interdisciplinary research, the peer review system faces significant challenges in finding peers. Researchers usually need to take their discipline as their battlefield and engage in frequent academic exchanges with peers within the discipline to gain recognition from their peers. This recognition can bring certain advantages to their project review and paper review. Therefore, under this system, researchers who want to engage in interdisciplinary research will face more uncertainty in the process of project application and paper submission. For example, if it is not a peer review within one's own disciplinary field, the success rate is lower. The second challenge is disciplinary barriers. Disciplinary barriers refer to the separation and estrangement between different disciplines, mainly manifested as the closed nature within the discipline, proprietary terminology and methodology, and uneven distribution of resources within and outside the discipline. These barriers limit the exchange and innovation of knowledge, making it difficult to achieve synergies between disciplines. There are three main reasons for the formation of disciplinary barriers. One is the departmental system in the modern university system. The departmental system of universities is usually divided according to disciplines, and each discipline gradually forms its own unique research field, methodology, and terminology system, gradually forming a situation of self-reliance. The departmental system has created a unique academic culture and sense of identity within each discipline, and researchers often seek recognition and support within their respective disciplines. The second is the specialized division of labor in scientific research. With the continuous deepening of academic research, the degree of specialization is constantly improving. This high degree of specialization allows researchers to gradually focus on a specific field, mastering unique knowledge and skills, but limited by time and energy, they have to give up learning knowledge from other professional fields (this phenomenon is called the "burden of knowledge"). The third is the allocation of academic resources according to disciplines, such as research project funding, promotion opportunities, honors, etc. When the academic community within a discipline is redistributed based on quotas, it has a certain degree of autonomy to formulate its own game rules, and the differences between rules form barriers between disciplines. Can establishing interdisciplinary research centers promote interdisciplinary studies? During his tenure at Harvard University (2001-2006), former president Summers proposed the "Alston Plan" aimed at transforming the Alston campus into an interdisciplinary research hub. Here, the barriers between departments and disciplines are dismantled, and researchers from different fields will collide under the same roof to spark knowledge and ideas. However, after Summers stepped down, the progress of the plan was slow. Nowadays, Harvard University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has settled in the Allston campus and has to some extent promoted interdisciplinary research, but the institutional system is still departmental. Many universities at home and abroad have also established research centers to promote interdisciplinary research, encouraging researchers from different disciplines both on and off campus to conduct interdisciplinary research around certain topics. At the interdisciplinary research center of Virtual Body, researchers still belong to different departments, and the scientific research assessments they have to deal with have not changed. The difficulties faced by interdisciplinary research have also not changed. In physical interdisciplinary research centers, although seemingly free from the constraints of departmental systems, disciplinary barriers are still difficult to break down in actual research work. The main reason is that in the current higher education system, each faculty member has a clear disciplinary affiliation, which means that even if they are in interdisciplinary research centers, researchers still have to seek resources from specific disciplines. Therefore, they have to stand in their own disciplinary fields to discuss interdisciplinary research and expect to bring the results of interdisciplinary research back to their own disciplinary fields to cope with scientific research assessments. Can categorizing interdisciplinary fields as independent disciplines promote interdisciplinary collaboration? Interdisciplinary "has become the 14th discipline category, with two first level disciplines," Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering "and" National Security ", and there is a possibility of adding a first level discipline in the future according to the needs of national economic and social development. This undoubtedly provides an institutional guarantee for personnel engaged in interdisciplinary research in the fields of "Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering" and "National Security Studies". Their interdisciplinary research has a disciplinary affiliation, and more people engaged in interdisciplinary research see hope in the institutional framework. However, the vitality of interdisciplinary studies is uncertain, and we cannot predict which interdisciplinary studies can drive knowledge innovation and scientific progress. How to protect this vitality in interdisciplinary fields on a larger scale is a question we need to consider. Can setting up an interdisciplinary department in funding promote interdisciplinary collaboration? According to statistics from 2023, the Interdisciplinary Science Department of the National Natural Science Foundation of China does not accept applications for youth projects and general projects. The funding rates for other projects such as "Excellent Youth" (30 projects) and "Outstanding Youth" (28 projects) are similar to those of other disciplines. Among them, the most funded projects are major research programs (156 projects, with a budget of approximately 1.3 million yuan per project). After the establishment of the Interdisciplinary Science Department, although it has not changed the current departmental education and research system, as well as the disciplinary barriers it has formed, it has provided a new track for researchers who were originally fiercely competitive in other scientific departments, and has played a positive incentive role in interdisciplinary studies. However, interdisciplinary research mostly belongs to high-risk and highly innovative research. Therefore, the high approval rate of small-scale funding models can better stimulate the motivation of researchers to engage in interdisciplinary research. Finally, the promotion of interdisciplinary research also requires cultural support. We need to change the traditional concept of disciplinary boundaries and advocate for an open, collaborative, and innovative research culture. At the same time, all sectors of society need to recognize the importance of interdisciplinary research and provide more resources and support for interdisciplinary studies. This will help create a social environment conducive to interdisciplinary research, promoting knowledge innovation and social progress. Author: Li Jiang (Professor at the School of Information Management, Nanjing University)