Perspectives from Research Corporationsites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/bpasite/documents/webpage/… · •Massively parallel data acquisition is creating vast databases that

Perspectives from Research Corporation

America’s First Foundation for the Advancement of Science

Jim Gentile, PresidentResearch Corporation

The Walls of Science

• Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, that sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, and spills the upper boulders in the sun, and makes gaps even two can pass

• Before I built a wall I’d ask to know what I was walling in or walling out, and to whom I was like to give offence. Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, that wants it down

» Robert Frost, “Mending Wall”

Thoughts

Comments from Sir Paul Nurse(July, 2007)

Great Ideas of Biology

Life as ChemistryChemical microenvironments of cells

Biological OrganizationInformation packaging and exchange

Systems BiologyComplex systems demand understanding a less common sense world

Research at the Interface .

•Biologists increasingly use sophisticated instrumentation rooted in the physical sciences.•Massively parallel data acquisition is creating vast databases that are potentially highly informative.•Concepts, models, and theories are becoming more quantitative.•Complex systems are moving to center stage.•The connections between the life sciences and the physical sciences are becoming deeper and richer.

Science Drivers(NRC)

Understanding biomolecular machines

Understanding gene recognition and signal transduction

Understanding mechanics and spatial structure of cells

Understanding the origin of self-replicating systems

Harnessing the synthetic capacity of life

Understanding and predicting protein folding

Understanding biomolecular machines and processes

Build a strong scientific workforce for the future

Science Drivers(ACS)

1. Understand the chemistry of living systems in detail2. Develop therapies to cure untreatable diseases3. Develop self-assembly for the synthesis and

manufacturing of complex systems and materials 4. Understand the complex chemistry of the environment5. Attract the best and the brightest young students into the

chemical sciences, to help meet these challenges 6. Communicate effectively to the general public the

contributions that chemistry and chemical engineering make to society

Science Drivers(APS)

1. Developing quantum technologies2. Understanding complex systems3. Applying physics to the life sciences4. Creating new materials5. Exploring the universe6. Unifying the forces of nature

Goal - Facilitating Interdisciplinary Science Research at PUI and R1 InstitutionsPossible Mechanisms with some comments on each:

An example of what implementation planning might look like for a future program initiative is shown below.

• Seed Funding. Absolutely necessary.

• Shared Facilities/Personnel. Though this sounds good though often such programs reflect ways of moving things forward without, necessarily, “rocking the boat” or changing the status quo.

• Training in New Fields. This is important, particularly for established faculty seeking to move farther away from the center of their discipline. Sabbatical support programs would help here.

• Longer Term Programs. Valuable, but for larger foundations only. Smaller foundations cannot lock up too many funds in this manner.

• Equality of Leadership for PIs. This is not a problem for foundations, but it is a real “bug-a-boo” for university T&P committees. Happens in Physics often, particular on large collaborative initiatives using big toys.

• Partnerships between Institutions and Agencies. This is an important avenue to pursue. This is particularly effective for a targeted initiative.

Goal - Facilitating Interdisciplinary Science Research at PUI and R1 InstitutionsPossible Mechanisms with some comments on each:

(continued)

• Research and Education. The two must be tied in some way.

• Grants for Interdisciplinary Teaching (and Curriculum). Important to train the next generation of scientists to be unafraid of interdisciplinary research adventures.

• Meetings. Special meetings for catalytic reasons could prove very valuable. Using the framework of the Gordon Conferences is a possibility.

• Sabbaticals. This could be a substantially important way of moving and training faculty into new, innovative modes of cross disciplinary research.

• Criteria for Proposal Submission & Review. This is critical. Without such criteria any funding agency could be hamstrung with the deluge of what could come under the door and spend most of the time doing triage. For review needs, it is important to have a review process that clearly understands the goals and aims of the interdisciplinary initiatives. Thus, just sending proposals for review to individuals or structures that work in the “same old way” just does not make sense. Thus, significant structural change within a foundation must occur to make this happen.

• Corrent Programs. RC’s new programs take all of the above into consideration

“Give up all hope of a better past"

- William Lyons

Implications of Complex Research

Connections/Collaborations Must Happen

Collaboration: An Indispensable Ingredient for Innovation

• A recently conducted Global CEO Study by IBM took a comprehensive, global look at innovation.

• 76 per cent of CEOs thought that external collaboration is key to innovation.

• This contrasts greatly with their view of internal R&D, which only 17 per cent of CEOs cited as a major source of innovation and new ideas.

» Ginni Rometty, Senior Vice President, IBM Global Business Services – CEO Today

The Collaboration Gap• However, of those CEO’s who viewed collaboration (internal and/or

external) was valuable and important, less than half report collaborations actually taking place in their organization (thus a gap between intent and action)

Collaboration and partnering is "theoretically easy," but "practically hard to do."

Collaboration requires serious intent.

Having a few beers together is not collaboration.

Collaboration requires discipline

Collaborations need to be encourated, affirmed and rewarded as part of an institutional plan

Things That Can Catalyze Innovative, Boundary-Crossing Research

• Collaborative Researchers must:– Think broadly, act personally and manage the

innovation mix• Resist falling back on traditional comfort zones

– Make the research model deeply different• Pay particular attention to areas of the research where no

one is actively innovating.

– Force an outside look - every time.• Push the research team to work with outsiders more, making

it first systematic and then, a part of your culture

– Ignite innovation thorough integration of science and technology

• Use technology as an innovation catalyst

Beyond Collaboration Boundaries•

Collaboration does not have to be limited by sheer numbers, company payroll or physical proximity. InnoCentive, for example, brings together 85,000 scientists located in more than 175 countries to work on seemingly intractable scientific challenges, multiplying the brainpower of participating companies such as Boeing, Dow Chemical, Eli Lilly and Procter & Gamble.

• Goldcorp, Inc. used a contest to attract external collaborators. It posted geological data for one of its high-grade gold mines on the Web, challenging the world’s geologists to find gold. Some 1,400 prospectors from 51 countries responded, and the company drilled the first four of the winners’ top five targets and struck gold on each one. The winning geologists never even visited the mine.

• According to a recent VNUNews.com news story, even physical collaboration no longer depends on being in the same location. In 2005, Australian scientists performed microsurgery on cells located on the other side of the world in California.

• Collaborating on a massive scale can also involve computing power, not just brainpower. The World Community Grid is using aggregated capacity from over 270,000 devices volunteered by individuals and organizations to study human proteome folding and design new anti-HIV drugs.

The Dawn of Networked Science

So is this science of the future?

Walls

Barriers to Research at the Interface of Disciplines

• Existing Institutional Structures• ..university disciplinary structures organize research around departments, and there is a

tyranny of disciplines. K. Keller

• Tenure and Promotion Criteria• ..university promotion & tenure are based upon recognized accomplishment of

individuals. Professors are expected to ‘run their own show.’ J. Hopfield

• Education and Training• .. The problem of narrow specialization and segmented curricula found in

undergraduate courses is too often perpetuated in graduate school.”J. Serum

• Communication• ..often, physics and chemistry departments are not in the same building as biology. In

many cases, medical schools are even in a separate city and engineering colleges set apart as well…..such things limit ‘productive collisions.’ T. Cech

• Funding Organizations & Peer Review• ..the peer review system is broken. When you can only fund grants at the 10th

percentile, the peer-review process is likely to become conservative and study sections try to find reasons to not fund a proposal. It is then easier to nitpick interdisciplinary proposals to death.” G. Petsko

Overcoming Walls

Options• Alternative Institutional Structures

• .. don’t think there are any magic bullets. Funding is needed to provide support mechanisms for interdisciplinary centers….but you also have to give university departments a stake in the success K. Keller

• Tenure, Promotion & Career Transitions• ..in companies at the end of the day, projects only work if you have a whole bunch of

people working in teams….one of the biggest differences between science in universities and the commercial world is teamwork. E. Penhoet

• ..at Janelia farm, if someone is the middle author and contributes their talent, energy and innovation to a project, they will be held up …and recognized. T. Cech

• Education and Training• ..post-docs in the dual mentor program at UCSD are highly successful in finding

jobs….because they can now talk two languages. J. Onuchic

• Fostering Communication• ..at the University of Oregon disciplines have been mixed for years…I am a chemist in a

physics building and down the hall from biologists….we’ve gotten so used to it we do not think about it any more. G. Richmond

• Funding • ..in recent years, private foundations have continued to stake out emerging fields where

they can make a difference…because private foundations, compared to federal agencies, are able to move more quickly to address needs and take advantage of opportunities. J. Gentile

• ..federal agencies are seeking to better coordinate funding programs and to establish programs that span the agencies. One such example at the interface of the physical and life sciences is the Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience Interagency program. J. Gentile

Future Needs and Implications for Research Corporation (2003)

• What needs are emerging? Continuing?• What are the trends in scientific research

today?• Where can we (a small foundation) have

an impact?• What are our recipients facing?• What are other funders doing?

Research CorporationAmerica’s First Foundation for the Advancement of Science

Transforming science in the 21st century

Inspire – innovative & transformative research

Support – funding, mentoring & metrics

Innovate – new partnerships for success

Advance – via positive & negative outcomes of high-risk research

Cottrell Institutes

Cottrell InstitutesCatalyzing Collaborations at the Edges of Science

So the Bottom line is to Form Unique Partnerships to Move Science/Science Education

……..with the willingness to take risks, to build upon rather than remain cemented in tradition and to embrace, and learn from, failure