Research universities face a long list of seemingly intractable problems.
Faculty too often work in subject-specific silos. Taxpayer-supported basic science doesn't get converted by industry into useful products and jobs. The vagaries of federal financing play havoc with laboratory projects and staffing. And now, making it even worse for some universities, Congress is cutting off budgetary "earmarks" reserved for many big-picture projects.
One possible solution—known as interdisciplinary science, or "team science"—is ripe for a surge in growth. An early sign: a new group of campus-based grant experts, known as the National Organization of Research Development Professionals, has ballooned from 32 to 232 members in the past two years, with what its leadership sees as a focus on promoting interdisciplinary science.
To read the full, original article click on this link: As Budgets Tighten, Big Science Gets a New Opportunity to Make Its Case - Government - The Chronicle of Higher Education
Author: Paul Basken
