Convergence Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Beyond (2014) / Chapter Skim
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5 Advancing Knowledge and Solving Complex Problems Through Convergence: Conclusions and Recommendations
5 Advancing Knowledge and Solving Complex Problems Through Convergence: Conclusions and Recommendations
Pages 93-106
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From page 93... ...
The continued establishment of new convergence centers, such as the recently announced University of Southern California Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience (Perkins 2014) , indicates that practitioner scientists, academic leaders, funders, and collaborative partners share a desire to advance convergent research.
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From page 94... ...
At a time when ideas, methods, models, and intellectual approaches of many fields are being synthesized into an integrated approach to problems of great importance, convergence represents a model that may become increasingly important to scientific discovery and translational application. At the same time, it coexists with many other models of multi- or transdisciplinary approaches, unidisciplinary projects, single–principal investigator (PI)
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From page 95... ...
Without a systematic focus, how ever, even with showcase models, convergence will continue to be a reductive patchwork of isolated efforts. Implementing and sustaining the personal, organizational, cultural, and ecosystem-level characteristics necessary to nurture convergence
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From page 96... ...
The number of convergence organizations already established and the diversity of ages of such programs from the 1990s forward provide a particularly relevant set of case studies that should be investigated more systematically for insights on how to overcome barriers to convergence, what attributes play the most significant roles in nurturing and sustaining convergence, and what types of quantitative and qualitative approaches provide appropriate criteria to evaluate success. Most of the information the committee was able to gather, while useful, was still essentially anecdotal in nature.
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From page 97... ...
Achieving the multiplicative power needed to facilitate convergence involves diversity not only of subject-matter expertise but also of the individual and institutional partners engaged. Most current convergence efforts, particularly established institutes, are associated with a limited number of large, research-intensive universities.
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From page 98... ...
, for example, supports center initiatives such as Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer, Centers for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, and Physical Sciences in Oncology. The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, by the nature of its mandate, brings together expertise from life, physical, and engineering sciences to develop new tools and technologies for clinical innovation.
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From page 99... ...
2. Research institutions, funding agencies, foundations, and other partners should address barriers to effective convergence as they arise, including expanding mechanisms for funding con vergence efforts and supporting collaborative proposal review across funding partners.
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From page 100... ...
5.2 NATIONAL COORDINATION IS NEEDED The opportunity for convergence approaches to address challenges of this era -- including treating diseases in a precision medicine manner, expanding healthcare access at reduced cost, developing sustainable energy sources, and achieving food and water security -- make this the right time for a systematic effort to raise awareness of convergence and its role in sciences and technologies of the future, and to overcome remaining challenges to creating environments that foster it. Over the past several decades, support for cross-disciplinary research has produced a cadre of researchers experienced in convergence approaches.
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From page 101... ...
A systematic focus on convergence would draw attention to available resources in areas such as the science of team science, assessment and evaluation of collaborative research, factors affecting interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research success, and other areas that bear on the effective implementation of practices that facilitate convergence. Greater coordination on convergence would enable practitioners, funders, and users to learn more about these research fields, which in many cases are drawn from social, economic, and behavioral sciences.
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From page 102... ...
This coordinated effort ultimately led to the BRAIN initiative supported by NIH, NSF, and DARPA. The Computing Community Consortium, supported by NSF, similarly issues white papers, research roadmaps, and workshop reports to inform federal research initiatives in areas such as robotics, "big data," and cyberphysical systems.
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From page 103... ...
Stakeholders interested in the promise of convergence can help identify scientific research frontiers and help establish priorities. Engagement of communities such as economic, social, and behavioral sciences and humanities can be more effectively incorporated to better understand the process of convergence and to improve translation and adoption of scientific advances that result from convergent research efforts.
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From page 104... ...
The NNI has catalyzed creation of research and education centers at laboratories and universities across the country, as well as support for public–private partnerships and commercialization activities around nanotechnology. Through the NNI, participating agencies advance fundamental research, stimulate infrastructure, foster workforce education and training, and support grand challenge areas that address compelling priority needs.
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From page 105... ...
Convergence offers opportunities to build on the success of initiatives such as NNI and others, but the coordination needed by the community to effectively foster convergence focuses even more heavily on processes, mechanisms, partnerships, and infrastructure than on specific technical challenges. One of the goals of national convergence coordination is to better enable stakeholders to identify fruitful research frontiers, which might themselves form the basis for future programs similar to BRAIN.
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