ABSTRACT
In 2009, Tufts University received a multimillion-dollar grant from the National Science Foundation to develop an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program on water and diplomacy. For several years prior to the grant, the conception and planning of an interdisciplinary graduate program that would educate a new generation of professionals to tackle complex water issues was already underway. The IGERT program became the cornerstone of other Water Diplomacy projects at Tufts and beyond, such as the Water Diplomacy Research Coordination Network, the annual Water Diplomacy Workshop, and our case study database Aquapedia. In the ensuing decade since the grant was awarded, the Water Diplomacy graduate program has educated 27 doctoral students from across four different schools within the University. Students and faculty in the program collaborated to produce four books (including this one), 46 refereed publications, and more than 100 conference presentations across the globe. As part of their research, presentations, and internships, students travelled to at least 24 countries. In this chapter, we tell the story of the conceptualization and implementation of the program and share key findings that we hope will benefit others who are developing or considering starting interdisciplinary programs of their own.
