Collaborations of Consequence NAKFI's 15 Years Igniting Innovation at the Intersections of Disciplines (2018) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 NAKFI Origins and Evolution
1 NAKFI Origins and Evolution
Pages 5-38
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 5... ...
It was a 15-year experiment to catalyze interdisciplinary research across the fields of science, engineering, and medicine. The prestige of the convening power of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine coupled with a commitment to an evolving model informed by rigorous evaluation were essential to NAKFI's success.
|
From page 6... ...
The goals set out in the original proposal implied an impact far beyond the program itself: • Structural change in research funding, both public and private, to provide significantly increased support for interdisciplinary and cross-professional research; • Structural change within research universities to foster more inter disciplinary research; • Changes in the career paths of Futures Initiative participants re sulting from greater interdisciplinary and cross-professional op portunities; and • Increases in the opportunities for graduate student (PhD-level) research in interdisciplinary and cross-professional areas.
|
From page 7... ...
The program included three components, the first two of which were informed by ongoing internal and external evaluation: • Futures Conferences • Futures Grants • National Academies' Communication Awards The program would provide a prestigious forum for generating new connections and ideas, the type of high-level recognition from the National Academies that could move science, engineering, and medicine forward in exciting ways. The program would bring together researchers from various disciplines and career stages, proving opportunities for unexpected interactions.
|
From page 8... ...
. BOX 1-1 Defining Interdisciplinary Research NAKFI adopted the following definition of interdisciplinary research based on the definition from Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research: Interdisciplinary Research is a mode of research by teams or individuals that integrates • perspectives/concepts/theories and/or • tools/techniques and/or • nformation/data from two or more bodies of specialized i knowledge or research practice.
|
From page 9... ...
Prospective conference topics came from a variety of sources and were developed by staff with input from experts before being submitted to the oversight committee for selection. By continually refining the themes and questions during the planning process, Futures Conferences could incorporate emerging ideas that characterize nascent areas of research.
|
From page 10... ...
Alternatively, conference at BOX 1-2 Futures Conferences 2003 Signals, Decisions, and Meaning in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Engineering* 2004 Designing Nanostructures at the Interface Between Bio medical and Physical Systems 2005 The Genomic Revolution: Implications for Treatment and Control of Infectious Disease 2006 Smart Prosthetics: Exploring Assistive Devices for the Body and Mind 2007 The Future of Human Healthspan: Demography, Evolution, Medicine, and Bioengineering 2008 Complex Systems 2009 Synthetic Biology: Building on Nature's Inspiration 2010 Seeing the Future with Imaging Science 2011 Ecosystem Services: Charting a Path to Sustainability 2012 The Informed Brain in a Digital World 2013 The Future of Advanced Nuclear Technologies: Building a Healthier and Safer Planet 2014 Collective Behavior: From Cells to Societies 2015 Art, Design and Science, Engineering and Medicine Frontier Collaborations: Ideation, Translation, Realization 2016 Discovering the Deep Blue Sea: Research, Innovation, Social Engagement 2017 Beyond Boundaries: 15 Years of Exploring Intersections in Science, Engineering, and Medicine*
|
From page 11... ...
For subsequent conferences, a call for applications publicized the conference and the conference steering committee selected the attendees across relevant disciplines from academic, industry, and government laboratories. A list of all Futures Conference participants by year is available in Appendix II.
|
From page 12... ...
For the final Futures Conference, attendees generated their own questions around four themes and self-organized to explore the most promising topics. NAKFI also experimented with the role of committee member mentors, who had varying levels of experience, skill, and comfort helping participants navigate group dynamics and connecting them to resources.
|
From page 13... ...
. The group discussions remained confidential until after the Futures Grants were announced and posting content-related discussions to social media during the meeting was strongly discouraged.
|
From page 14... ...
Data suggest the conference model was an effective starting point that led to an abundance of possible outcomes, including: • better questions that lead to new ways of thinking, collaborations, models, technologies, or research methods; • increased interest in the conference theme and related outcomes; • broad, diverse, and better prepared networks of interdisciplinary and cross-professional researchers, scholars, and practitioners; • individual and team-based work on scientific, educational, social, and cultural projects; • transformation of participants' career paths, especially for early career participants; • new streams of funding from agencies and other institutions; • identification of high-quality participants, ideas, and projects for public engagement activities; and • a better understanding of the support and tools necessary to stim ulate innovation and public engagement. Some of the most important outcomes came from serendipitous interactions sparked by an environment that encouraged people to explore their curiosity, take risks, have new experiences, and work together on challenges of shared interest.
|
From page 15... ...
Bolded text indicates quotes and feedback directly from NAKFI alumni. The use of literary nonfiction to highlight program data and engage readers with the multi-faceted Futures Conference process was a powerful communication tool first employed during the 10-year review and evaluation.
|
From page 16... ...
On a flight home from another conference she watched the final presentations from a recent NAKFI conference. She'd never presented without slides and talking points, and certainly not as part of an ensemble.
|
From page 17... ...
Just then she remembered that her materials instructed, "Please proceed to baggage claim and look for a driver holding a ‘NAKFI Conference' sign, where fellow conference attendee Anna will be joining you." By the time Julia got to baggage claim, Anna was standing next to the driver. On the way to the hotel, Julia realized very quickly that her interests as a biological research scientist and Anna's as a social scientist complemented each other in a very unique way.
|
From page 18... ...
Julia thought this could turn into a potential seed grant proposal. She decided to visit posters as far away from her own field as possible, and found herself drawn in every time.
|
From page 19... ...
The range of backgrounds and expertise also meant we weren't spending all of our time trying to impress one another; instead, the focus was on learning from one another...." During a break from the final presentations, Julia stopped by the registration desk to find out how she would be getting back to the airport. NAKFI staff asked to see the back of her name badge and showed her that a ride had been arranged with Anna and another conference attendee back to the airport at 1:00 p.m.
|
From page 20... ...
The Futures Grants provided seed funding to Futures Conference participants on a competitive basis to enable them to pursue important new ideas and connections stimulated by the conferences. These grants filled a critical missing link between bold new ideas and major federal funding programs.
|
From page 21... ...
Grantees' reflections on what worked, what did not work, and why informed organizational learning and funding strategies. NAKFI employed a number of methods to understand the overall impact of the seed grants, including surveys, staff review of grantee final reports, and analyzing scientific articles produced from seed grant projects.
|
From page 22... ...
VENTURE SCIENCE SEED GRANTS $1 million available; Funding available for Value placed on unexpected and amounts range from workshops, research, and unintended results $25,000–$100,000; grants other activities are for up to 2 years Multiple ways of considering Flexible terms; and measuring "success" Eligibility limited to investigators can change U.S.-based attendees of direction, receive no-cost Recognition that no one source each year's conference; extension or individual can claim full collaborators can be from credit for achievements or anywhere Mid-cycle grant meeting "noble failures" for reflection, course Clear online application; correction, and additional Full scientific and societal responsive staff for questions networking; collaborators, impact of projects may not be graduate students, and seen for many years Focus on high risk/high postdocs encouraged to reward ideas attend Quick turnaround on Simple reporting decisions requirements Evaluation considers multiple outputs and outcomes; examines results as a portfolio of projects and individually.
|
From page 23... ...
The Futures Grants program demonstrated potential for not only scientific, but also educational, societal, or cultural impacts. NAKFI's seed grants resulted in more than $158 million in verified follow-on funding, 205 publications, and 6 patents, as well as other notable successes.
|
From page 24... ...
By the time of NAKFI's 5-year review in 2008 the communication awards program had established itself as one of the largest awards in science writing and communication. Winners and finalists suggested that even more important than a substantial cash prize was the recognition, visibility, and encouragement the award provided.
|
From page 25... ...
A list of the 2003–2018 Communication Awards committee members and recipients is available in Appendix IV. PROGRAM EVALUATION FOR AN EVOLVING MODEL NAKFI's commitment to an evolving model for interdisciplinary research was paired with an evaluation approach adapted to the ongoing development of the program.
|
From page 26... ...
An important early evaluation finding that was consistent across all conferences was that those who applied to attend and attended Futures Conferences were already inclined toward interdisciplinary research before their experience with the program. In 2006, the program surveyed various stakeholders to understand the climate for interdisciplinary research.
|
From page 27... ...
. The intent was to develop benchmarks measuring the interdisciplinarity in scientific disciplines and compare the level of integration found in articles by Futures Conference participants or
|
From page 28... ...
They had familiarity with the NAKFI program, experience attending Futures Conferences, and a willingness to participate in an exploratory and potentially exciting process. Each working group was trained on the NAKFI WPP, which assessed projects on multiple dimensions, including multiple facets of interdisciplinarity, scientific impact, societal impact, creativity,
|
From page 29... ...
The panel reviewed program and evaluation data and relevant literature and interviewed several participants. While the climate for interdisciplinary inquiry appeared more favorable than anticipated at the time the NAKFI program was originally proposed, there remained obstacles to interdisciplinary research both at the institutional and investigator levels that merited continuation of the program strategies.
|
From page 30... ...
Rather than pursue an experimental approach to evaluation, the panel suggested adding narrative evaluation of participant experiences to the program's survey research. A high-level summary of the panel's conclusions addressed the climate for interdisciplinary research, success of NAKFI's conference and seed grants, and overall value of the program.
|
From page 31... ...
Key programmatic recommendations included striving for greater diversity of women, traditionally underrepresented groups, and younger scientists; expanding the role of social and behavioral scientists; and exploring the expansion of the Futures Conference process by using new communications technologies, collaborating with other programs to increase interdisciplinary research, and continuing to target topics with the potential for identifying strategies for transformative research. The impact of the recommendations of the 5-year review panel resulted in changes to the program, including • Creation of an online network to encourage alumni engagement • Broadening the scope of conference topics to include social and behavioral scientists • Expanded promotion of the call for conference applications to facilitate the selection of a diverse group of participants • Connecting with other programs supporting interdisciplinary research • Separating the communication awards from the conference • Adding mid-cycle grant meetings for grantees and their collaborators • Refocusing the evaluation on the scientific and societal impact of seed grants Information about the 5-year and 10-year reviews is available in Appendix VI.
|
From page 32... ...
The panel met in 2013 and 2014 and delivered its report to the oversight committee in July 2014. Working with the panel, the program examined what it had accomplished since the 5-year review and conducted a scan of how the environment for interdisciplinary, transformative, and innovative research had changed.
|
From page 33... ...
Areas that scored low on the importance/practice scales -- collaborations and engagement -- might be more important to advancing innovative research than how they were ranked at the time of the NAKFI Ten-Year Review. NAKFI developed a program model and also a collection of methods and tools for measuring and monitoring the impact of interdisciplinary research, team science initiatives, and venture science funding.
|
From page 34... ...
Applications underwent a round of peer-to-peer community judging by fellow applicants. The 30 highest scoring proposals were then judged by an expert panel consisting of members of NAKFI conference organizing committees.
|
From page 35... ...
Bonnie Keeler, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota Jessica Hellmann and Fred Rose, Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota Elena Bennett, McGill University Peter Kareiva, University of California, Los Angeles Lydia Olander, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University Institutionalizing Interdisciplinarity: A Cross-Institutional Network to Synthesize What Is Working (and Not) in the Pursuit of Transformative Sustainability Science Interdisciplinary research is necessary to tackle urgent societal challenges, yet institutional barriers hinder these efforts.
|
From page 36... ...
36 COLLABORATIONS OF CONSEQUENCE Digital Street Theater for Global Maternal and Child Health Education High or rising rates of maternal and child death are an urgent global issue -- shockingly, including the United States. Causes differ by country, but mothers' health knowledge and habits play a key role in reducing mortality in all contexts.
|
From page 37... ...
THE NAKFI LEGACY Over the past 15 years NAKFI has promoted interdisciplinary research and collaboration through its annual conferences and seed grant program. It challenged the boundaries between disciplinary silos by providing opportunities, support, and tools for the best researchers to move fluidly across disciplines, fields, and sectors.
|
From page 38... ...
As noted by the NAKFI Ten-Year Evaluation and Planning Panel, "one of the most important contributions NAKFI has made to advancing interdisciplinary cross-professional research is the program model itself." The legacy of the Futures Initiative is the program's adaptive, rigorous, and original approach to fostering collaboration. The propagation of the Futures Model -- through the winners of the NAKFI Challenge and those who initiate new efforts based on the learnings of this unique program -- will support efforts to address the changes taking place in the conduct of science, engineering, and medicine, and in the scope, breadth, and interconnected nature of pressing issues facing the nation and the world.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.