Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research (2005) / Chapter Skim
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1 A Vision of Interdisciplinary Research
1 A Vision of Interdisciplinary Research
Pages 16-25
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From page 16... ...
And problems may cut right across the borders of any subject matter or discipline. Karl Popper2 Interdisciplinary research and education are inspired by the drive to solve complex questions and problems, whether generated by scientific curiosity or by society, and lead researchers in different disciplines to meet at the interfaces and frontiers of those disciplines and even to cross frontiers to form new disciplines.
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From page 17... ...
In the age of the great scientific revolutions of 17th-century Europe, its towering geniuses -- Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, Edmond Halley, Robert Boyle, and others-brought their curiosity to bear not only on subjects that would lead to basic discoveries that bear their names but also on every kind of interdisciplinary challenge, including military and mining questions.3 In the 19th century, Louis Pasteur became a model interdisciplinarian, responding to practical questions about diseases and wine spoilage with surprising answers that laid the foundations of microbiology and immunology. Today, the proliferation of new understanding about the molecular and genetic underpinnings of life demonstrates the power of combining disciplinary knowledge in interdisciplinary ways.
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From page 18... ...
After several decades of experimentation, interdisciplinary centers, institutes, programs, and other structural mechanisms have proliferated on and adjacent to university campuses; indeed, these research units often outnumber traditional departments (see Figure 1-1 and Box 1-1)
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From page 19... ...
They include sustained and intense communication, talented leadership, appropriate reward and incentive mechanisms (including career and financial rewards) , adequate time, seed funding for initial exploration, and willingness to support risky research (see Table 1-1)
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From page 20... ...
aThe Columbia University Faculty Handbook is available on line at http://www.columbia.edu/ cu/vpaa/fhb/. bColumbiana Library Web Page http://www.columbia.edu/cu/columbiana/collection.html c"We were not as systematic in our counting in 1995 as we were in later years and we, therefore, may have understated the number that actually existed in that year." Steven Rittenberg, Vice Provost, Columbia University, email communication, March 19, 2004.
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From page 21... ...
a half-century ago enriched their insights with evidence from x-ray crystallography to imagine the structure of DNA, scientists in every research area are alert to flashes of understanding from other fields that may illuminate their own specialties. Without sustained and intense discussion of such possibilities and without special effort by researchers to learn the languages and cultures of participants in different traditions, the potential interdisciplinary research might not be realized and might have no lasting effect.
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From page 22... ...
Cliff Gabriel, deputy associate director, White House Office of Science and Technology 7Participants in the committee's Convocation on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research (see Appendix C) emphasized the importance of a conscious strategy to promote informal communication.
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In this con nection, the council makes statements about a variety of subjects, including the desired broader definition of scientific quality, the broadening of university career policy, and the need to improve the image of multidisciplinary research. · Promote interaction and meetings.
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From page 24... ...
EURAB found that barriers to IDR are highest where the traditional one-de partment, one-discipline structure of most universities is reflected in the structures of research funding bodies. Specific challenges include the difficulty of creating new interdisciplinary programs by using established one-discipline funding sys tems, the weakness of multidisciplinary career structures, the lack of established interdisciplinary scientific journals, and education systems that are not geared to ward producing multidisciplinary graduates and postgraduates.
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From page 25... ...
The literature that this committee has reviewed suggests an evolution in modern research toward greater complexity. If that is valid, researchers need organizational and career structures that are suitably flexible and carefully designed to support the trend.
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