The research in biology has been transformed by the products of interdisciplinary research. Here we explore why it is challenging for universities to bring biologists together with engineers, physicists and computer scientists for productive collaboration, and we evaluate alternative solutions. In particular, we describe how the new Janelia Farm Research Campus of Howard Hughes Medical Institute aims to provide a home for creative scientists from different disciplines to attack major biomedical research problems.
References
Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Janelia Farm Research Campus report on program development (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA, 2003).
Pines, M. No time for the bench. HHMI Bulletin 16, 28 (2003).
Aldhous, P. Rocky Mountain high. Nature 423, 915–916 (2003).
Committee on Undergraduate Biology Education to Prepare Research Scientists for the 21st Century. BIO2010: transforming undergraduate education for future research biologists (National Research Council, National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2003).
Bialek, W. & Botstein, D. Introductory science and mathematics education for 21st-century biologists. Science 303, 788–790 (2004).
Ares, M. Interdisciplinary research and the undergraduate biology student. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 11: 1170–1172 (2004).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cech, T., Rubin, G. Nurturing interdisciplinary research. Nat Struct Mol Biol 11, 1166–1169 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb1204-1166
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb1204-1166
- Springer Nature America, Inc.
This article is cited by
-
Interdisciplinarity affects the technological impact of scientific research
Scientometrics (2023)
-
Interdisciplinary research and technological impact: evidence from biomedicine
Scientometrics (2023)
-
Strategies and Intervening Factors Influencing Student Social Interaction and Experiential Learning in an Interdisciplinary Research Team
Research in Higher Education (2009)
-
Interdisciplinary research and the undergraduate biology student
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (2004)