Fostering Interdisciplinarity in Research and Education: NIMBioS and Beyond Louis J. Gross National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics Supported by NSF Awards DEB , DMS , IIS ,EF NIMBioS.org

Overview Interdisciplinarity NIMBioS Goals, Activities and some History Reports and Calls for Change Comments on Fostering Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Interdisciplinary Research and Education : (from Jim Collins, NSF Associate Director) How we were educated What happens when two of us get together What we’ve done at UT in math/biology/CS/geography What NIMBioS intends to foster

Grand Challenges of Neuroscience * How does the brain work and produce mental activity? How does physical activity in the brain give rise to thought, emotion, and behavior? * How does the interplay of biology and experience shape our brains and make us who we are today? * How do we keep our brains healthy? How do we protect, restore, or enhance the functioning of our brains as we age? Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary enterprise including diverse fields of biology, psychology, neurology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, engineering, computer science, and more. “Who among us has not wondered how it all works; how the lump of our physical brain gives rise to someone who can want, and love, and read poetry?”

NIMBioS.org Foster new collaborative efforts to investigate fundamental and applied questions arising in biology using appropriate mathematical and computational methods Enhance the essential human capacity to analyze complex biological questions and develop necessary new mathematics Encourage broader public appreciation of the unity of science and mathematics. Department of Homeland Security

General Methods Choosing fundamental problems that will benefit from cross-disciplinary collaborations. Choosing applied problems of sufficient general interest to be readily extended beyond an initial region/ organism/ system. Building appropriate collaborations to address these fundamental and applied problems. Developing education and outreach opportunities to diversify participation in these collaborations at all levels.

Research Activities Working Groups on Focused Topics Investigative Workshops Postdoctoral Fellowships Sabbatical Visitors Short-term Visitors NIMBioS.org

NIMBioS Strategy NIMBioS activities are community-driven. We request suggestions from a broad array of constituents. Given the enormous potential breadth of scientific areas across life sciences and mathematics in which NIMBioS could be involved, prioritization of effort needs to be made. NIMBioS relies on requests from the community to prioritize support, as evaluated through a formal process utilizing the broad set of expertise of the external Board of Advisors.

Our Leadership Team Sergey Gavrilets - Scientific Activities Cynthia Peterson - Graduate Education Suzanne Lenhart - Outreach, Education & Diversity Graham Hickling - Partner Relations Chris Welsh - Deputy Director

OurStaff Michael Peek – IT Manager Toby Koosman– Business Manager Eric Carr – HPC Specialist Jennifer Thomas – Travel and Logistics Jane Comiskey – IT/Web Specialist Sarah Duncan – Outreach/Education Coordinator Pam Bishop – Program Evaluation Coordinator Catherine Crawley – Communications Coordinator

New Faculty Associated with NIMBioS Paul Armsworth (EEB) Vitaly Ganusov (Microbiology) Jaewook Joo (Physics) Brian O’Meara (EEB) NIMBioS search process involved 6 Colleges and 14 Departments - home units were not specified in advance. Two searches underway this year.

NIMBioS Postdocs Folashade Agusto (Math) Yi Mao (Physical Chemistry) Sharon Bewick (Chemistry) Will Godsoe (Biology) Erol Akcay (Biology)

NIMBioS NSF Collaborative Centers

Goals for Graduate Education Foster development of new programs to educate researchers who are: –Mathematically competent –Biologically knowledgeable –Computational adept – Possessing both mathematical and biological intuition

Computer Science/ Ecology Math/ Ecology Math Ecology Computer Science Ecology Physics Math Computer Science

Undergraduate Conference on the Interface between Math and Biology – October 2009 One personal metric of success of these UBM programs was the fact that in the talks, I really couldn't tell whether the student giving the presentation was pursuing a biology or mathematics major. The students seemed equally comfortable in presenting details in both areas.

The math/biology programs at UT Started with one faculty member (Tom Hallam) in late 1970’s and added three more over 20 years Developed 100-level math for biology courses Developed 2-year grad sequence and degree concentration Organized interdisciplinary seminar every semester for 30 years – with faculty from many different disciplines Built interdisciplinary institute (The Institute for Environmental Modeling) with links to ORNL Used TIEM to foster collaborations and attract external funds (no UT funds involved) Moved-in projects from other units as appropriate Bottom line- one of the world’s leading programs with over $14M in external funding over 15 years – not counting NIMBioS

How the hell did we build this at UT? Started small but had a long-term vision of what we wanted to be Got administrative support (this does not mean funding) at departmental level Got buy-in from colleagues (didn’t step on their toes – too much at least) Found some external resources (for both research and educational initiatives) Built a community, shared resources and collaborated towards potential new resources Educated appropriate administrators why this is important

Why Interdisciplinarity Matters Make the United States the most attractive setting in which to study and perform research so that we can develop, recruit, and retain the best and brightest students, scientists and engineers from within the United States and throughout the world (2007).

A New Biology for the 21 st Century National Academies Board on Life Sciences A New Biology for the 21 st Century National Research Council Committee on a New Biology for the 21st Century: Ensuring the United States Leads the Coming Biology Revolution Prepublication released September 2009

A moment of unique opportunity -- Current research has brought biology to an inflection point Current research has brought biology to an inflection point Integration of subdisciplines within biology Integration of subdisciplines within biology Cross-discipline integration: life science research by Cross-discipline integration: life science research by physical, computational, earth scientists, engineers physical, computational, earth scientists, engineers Technological advances enable biologists to collect data Technological advances enable biologists to collect data unprecedented in quantity and quality unprecedented in quantity and quality Past investments providing value beyond expected Past investments providing value beyond expected An opportunity for a New Biology with impact at an unprecedented scale

Food Food Environment Environment Energy Energy Health Health The National New Biology Initiative Setting big goals: address societal problems

What is the New Biology? Biology

Bio2010:Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists Released September 2002 by National Research Council, funded by NIH, HHMI Recommendations focus on interdisciplinary needs in carrying out research in biology Explicit curricula suggested that enhance physics, chemistry and quantitative training Backlash from some non-health science groups due to perceived biomedical focus

Claudia Neuhauser - HHMI Professor and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs - UMN Rochester

Learning Objectives for Competency E1: 1. Demonstrate quantitative numeracy and facility with the language of mathematics. 2. Interpret data sets and communicate those interpretations using visual and other appropriate tools. 3. Make statistical inferences from data sets. 4. Extract relevant information from large data sets. 5. Make inferences about natural phenomena using mathematical models. 6. Apply algorithmic approaches and principles of logic (including the distinction between cause/effect and association) to problem solving. 7. Quantify and interpret changes in dynamical systems.

Fostering Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Hubris is the enemy of collaboration - you don’t know as much as you think you do. Trust your colleagues - they know more than you do. Don’t feel obliged to collaborate with assholes, even if they are brilliant.There are great non-assholes out there - find them. Spice up your life - marry a poet.

Fostering Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Don’t judge other disciplines based upon their students. Find ways to explain your passion for your field to others. Be patient - don’t expect to learn the language of another field easily. The status quo arose from disciplinary silos - don’t be afraid to challenge it and modify or throw out the “rules” Find mechanisms to ensure everyone benefits from a collaboration - individuals, their students, their department - share the wealth in order to generate new resources.