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4 Fostering Convergence in Organizations: Challenges and Strategies
Pages 59-92

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From page 59...
... This chapter explores areas where challenges are frequently encountered, identifies examples of strategies that have been used by different types of institutions and with different budget implications, and begins to articulate a set of cultural and structural characteristics linked to successful convergence programs. Many challenges encountered by convergence programs and strategies to address the barriers that arise echo those reported for facilitating interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, or team science efforts more generally.
From page 60...
... Laboratories and core facilities are expensive to start up and maintain (see Sections 4.3 and 4.5)
From page 61...
... versa in order to provide Creating a solid foundation for education Institutions should support undertaking convergence. and training interdisciplinary education programs and training for students, Opportunities are needed postdoctoral scholars, to effectively fill in gaps researchers, and faculty by in training and expertise providing such mechanisms or to learn fundamentals as undergraduate research of a new area to foster opportunities, faculty team- a common language teaching credit, and IDR and understanding.
From page 62...
... . 4.1  CONVERGENCE IS FACILITATED BY DEPTH AND BREADTH OF EXPERTISE The focus of the committee's discussions and data-gathering was on fostering convergence in organizations, particularly in ways that interconnect and integrate the expertise of multiple investigators.
From page 63...
... These are important strategies for fostering convergence. The individual backgrounds of the PI and research team members may also be cross-disciplinary in nature based on the combination of diverse
From page 64...
... Therefore, adopting inclusive attitudes toward diversity and using management strategies to foster diversity are essential for maximizing the return on investment of convergence efforts. 4.3  CONVERGENCE REQUIRES A CULTURE AND SUPPORTING STRUCTURES Developing an open, inclusive culture that values diversity, is flexible in the way it approaches problems, and has a common language is critical for success in any research effort that involves contributions from multiple disciplines.
From page 65...
... At QB3, which connects 220 laboratories across three university campuses, Regis Kelly has closed his own faculty laboratory to devote himself full time to the process of bridging academic domains and indicates that he could use more team members to contribute to this effort. And at the University of Michigan North Campus Research Complex, the university selected David Canter, a former senior vice president of global research and development at Pfizer, rather than a distinguished faculty member, to serve as the director.
From page 66...
... . • Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute: The Janelia Farm Research Campus, which opened in 2006, represents an example in which a convergent research culture was created from the ground up outside the confines of an existing university structure.
From page 67...
... . Convergence programs often involve faculty members and students from multiple fields, technical staff operating core facilities, program and business development managers, enduser partners like clinicians, and others with diverse skills and career trajectories.
From page 68...
... The use of seed funding to catalyze convergent activities is discussed further in Section 4.8.
From page 69...
... . • Janelia Farm Research Campus, funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
From page 70...
... . The example of the Janelia Farm Research Campus and similar types of non-profit research institutes provides an interesting case to consider when thinking about the broader implications of models for fostering convergence and how they might scale.
From page 71...
... . • Wyss Institute: All Wyss Institute faculty members continue to hold academic appointments in their home institutions and
From page 72...
... Almost all institute members maintain their original laboratories and no faculty member has dedicated space at the Wyss Institute; space is allocated to projects, not to individual faculty. As reported during the workshop, this balance enables participating faculty to maintain the unique cultures of their own laboratories while benefitting from the strong transdis ciplinary culture of the institute.
From page 73...
... To foster such a strategy, institutional incentives include catalytic seed funding, workspace, and perhaps access to core facilities. Examples of projectbased seed funding incentives that have been employed by institutions to encourage convergent research are discussed further in Section 4.8.
From page 74...
... 4.4.3  Strategy: Embedding Support for Interdisciplinarity in the Promotion and Tenure Process As was made clear by examples such as HHMI's Janelia Farm, researchers are willing to work in novel environments to engage in convergent research, even without the option of tenure. However, concerns over adequately accounting for participation in convergent research during promotion and tenure decisions remains a topic of great interest for many scientists working at convergent interfaces.
From page 75...
... Clinical and Translational Science Awards revealed that a quarter did not have language specific to collaborative, interdisciplinary, or team science. The remaining 32 insti tutions recognized these types of activities in various ways, such as by recogniz ing that interdisciplinary or team science plays a role in advancing science or by addressing how to demonstrate contributions when assembling a promotion and tenure dossier (Hall 2013)
From page 76...
... Faculty members at the Petit Institute hold their academic, tenure-track appointments in one of these participating academic departments. As Robert Nerem reported, "we changed the promotion and tenure process so that the first thing that a department P&T committee can do is appoint what we call an area committee, or sometimes the first level committee, which is supposed to be the three to four faculty on campus who can best evaluate the scholarship research activities of the faculty member.
From page 77...
... 4.5  FACILITIES AND WORKSPACES CAN BE DESIGNED FOR CONVERGENT RESEARCH The relationship between space, collaboration, and productivity is complicated. As Figure 3-1 emphasizes, physical environment is one factor among many that affect the success of convergence efforts and the interacting effects of organizational culture, management, and individual characteristics cannot readily be separated or prioritized.
From page 78...
... Access to sophisticated core facilities may be a particularly useful incentive for convergence, and the need for support for such core spaces has been noted in prior reports.2 Several other strategies that institutions have incorporated in the physical spaces that support convergence are described below. 2  One of the recommendations from the ARISE II report is to "Expand support for shared core research facilities (especially those that span multiple PSE [physical sciences and engineering]
From page 79...
... The amount of physical overlap in a biomedical research building at the University of Michigan -- the relative position of offices, how close two investigators were to the coffee pot, and other factors of proximity -- were strongly correlated with the likelihood that collaborations would form.
From page 80...
... Spaces regularly accessed by all researchers, such as bathrooms and elevators, are located within a "racetrack" corridor that loops the floor, forcing scientists to leave their labo ratories during the day. The building also contains 22,000 square feet of shared core facilities spread throughout the building that comprise the Swanson Biotechnology Center (Jacks 2013)
From page 81...
... When addressing the challenges of designing an interdisciplinary, convergent educational program, a key first step is to define the objectives of the curriculum in a way that balances the trade-off between depth of knowledge and breadth of knowledge. Some goals for undergraduate student interdisciplinary learning, regardless of field, are • to develop in students the intellectual capacity to deal with real, complex problems; • to build student confidence and willingness to approach prob lems from multiple perspectives; • to build student ability to communicate with scientists from other disciplines; • to develop student ability to make decisions in the face of uncer tainty (reflective judgment)
From page 82...
... One aspect of the balancing act of curriculum development necessary to support convergence is to take into account how much physics, math, statistics, or engineering a biologist needs to learn in formal class settings versus through informal contacts and through training that occurs as a member of a research effort involving colleagues from multiple disciplines. The same is true for those starting from areas of physical sciences and engineering who need to understand biological concepts.
From page 83...
... competition in synthetic biology can also serve as hooks to promote interest in convergence among students at an early stage of their training. In graduate student training programs, boot camps, well-crafted journal clubs, seminars, and advanced-level undergraduate gap courses can be useful strategies for enabling students to round out their backgrounds in areas they need to foster convergence.
From page 84...
... 4.7  CONVERGENCE RELIES ON EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIP ARRANGEMENTS Forming effective partnerships is a critical dimension of fostering convergence. As discussed throughout the chapter, many of the connections that underpin convergent activities bridge individual faculty members and academic departments.
From page 85...
... • University of Michigan North Campus Research Complex: In 2008, the University of Michigan purchased Pfizer's former research facility, encompassing 2.2 million square feet of laboratory and administrative space in 28 connected buildings. The university, the medical school, and the university hospital provided money for the purchase and the medical school committed through its department chairs and dean that it would fund the North Cam pus Research Complex for 10 years with a tax on all incom ing grants and income.
From page 86...
... . Because convergence extends beyond basic science discovery to translational application, bringing clinical, national laboratory, and industry partners into convergent research efforts can provide valuable connections and potentially increase the impact of research.
From page 87...
... Stable funding for such core facilities can be a particular challenge across the sciences. For convergent research projects, grant submission and review processes need to fairly account for and evaluate submissions that extend beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries.
From page 88...
... The review process for research proposals at the interfaces of multiple areas of knowledge, such as those arising from convergence, will require the institution of equivalent procedures to critically evaluate the questions and methods proposed. Another valuable mechanism to support convergence efforts is provided by funding initiatives that support centers.
From page 89...
... Many institutions are looking beyond funding agencies and foundations to ensure sustainability of convergence efforts. In addition to endowments, individual donors, venture philanthropy, taxpayer initiatives such as the stem cell bond in California and the Arizona research-targeted sales 5  In 2013, seven foundations announced the formation of a coalition to provide increased funding for basic science research in order to supplement the pivotal support for such research provided by the federal government.
From page 90...
... 4.9  THE CONVERGENCE ECOSYSTEM INCLUDES CORE ELEMENTS Many research institutions are engaged in creating an environment that promotes the convergence of life sciences, physical sciences, medicine, engineering, and beyond. Strategies such as organizing space around compelling research themes, providing seed funding to generate preliminary results in high-risk/high-return areas, reforming undergraduate and graduate education, investing in new types of shared and core facilities, recruiting people from industry with expertise in product management and product development, partnering with academic, clinical, and industry collaborators, and exploring multiple sources of funding all contribute to these efforts to nurture an effective convergence ecosystem.
From page 91...
... As a first step, examples of modest options that could be considered to enable diverse institutions to start to foster convergence are provided in Table 4-2. TABLE 4-2 Ideas for Fostering Convergence with a Steady State Budget • Encourage social events such as coffee and pizza to foster presentations and discussions of convergent research.
From page 92...
... These may include funds for research, access to core facilities and to the expertise of others, procedures that reduce or streamline administrative barriers, or the carrot of economic innovation. Generating and sustaining the levels of visibility and enthusiasm needed across the community will require the engagement of key champions within multiple academic institutions, federal agencies, and other partners as well as regular opportunities for stakeholders to share their challenges and map out what is needed to achieve new solutions.


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