Across our work at the Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy (CSP), we often see first-hand how difficult it can be for different scientific disciplines to collaborate. While science has made so much progress in many areas, societal advancement could go further faster if researchers worked across disciplines to achieve common goals. Private funders can foster collaboration and integration across scientific disciplines, and build the scientific workforce, too. Supporting  research fellowships that promote interdisciplinary science is one effective, efficient, and impactful means to do so.

Why Support Interdisciplinary Science? 

The challenges that science strives to solve are increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, requiring the expertise of scientists from multiple fields. This is commonly referred to as  interdisciplinary research, defined by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine as research that “integrates information, data, techniques, tools, perspectives, concepts, and/or theories” from multiple disciplines to address a problem or improve our understanding of the world.

History provides copious examples of interdisciplinary collaboration that led to major advancements. Take for example, decoding the structure of DNA, or artificial intelligence. Breakthroughs in these cases wouldn’t have been possible without scientists with deep expertise in seemingly unrelated fields coming together. The most recent examples perhaps are the COVID-19 vaccines now being distributed.

Unfortunately, however, examples of groundbreaking interdisciplinary research are not as common as they could be. Rigid academic silos have inadvertently and unintentionally built silos that inhibit the scientific environment for interdisciplinary exploration.

There is, however, a potential path forward to addressing these barriers — and private funders have a distinct role to play. By funding fellowships, donors can create the enabling environment that allows novel methods and ideas to converge and cross pollinate in ways that could ultimately contribute to major progress and transformation. What’s more,  fellowships support researchers at critical years in life and professional development laying the foundation for the direction of a person’s scientific career.

How Fellowships Can Advance Interdisciplinary Science  

Research fellowships are time-bound avenues for trainees to transition and integrate into new disciplines, and can support an array of studies or a specific topic to advance knowledge gaps within fields. With a fellowship prioritizing interdisciplinary studies, early-career scientists have the infrastructure and support to cross fields and access new knowledge and training. Fellowship participants can better advance their educational and professional goals and gain invaluable interdisciplinary research experience. Institutions also benefit from offering fellowships because they can recruit and retain diverse candidates while building new communities on their campuses.

Elements for a Successful Interdisciplinary Fellowship 

A successful interdisciplinary fellowship relies on multiple components, which include:

  1. Cross-discipline co-mentorship with clear guidelines and expectations that balance time and effort among multiple mentors.
  2. Robust interdisciplinary education and training through mentorship and professional development opportunities.
  3. Creation of a supportive interdisciplinary culture and community with sufficient resources and rewards for innovative research.
  4. Hiring and rewarding faculty who have experience in interdisciplinary science to provide meaningful mentorship to trainees and can advocate to the department and university for additional support.
  5. Development of interdisciplinary career pipelines in scientific research fields that align with the unique needs and talents of an interdisciplinary scientist.

Unlocking the Power of Interdisciplinary Science 
Interdisciplinary fellowships are just one way to promote cross-cutting scientific research that integrates multiple disciplines. Their added advantage is that they make an impact in multiple ways that benefit society—motivating innovation, bolstering individual scientists, and creating large-scale impact for all of society. By funding and ensuring a solid structure for interdisciplinary science fellowships, donors can remove a major barrier to innovation, and leave a positive legacy for other fields to follow.

To read more on funding interdisciplinary science, see CSP’s new report: The Value of Building an Interdisciplinary Scientific Workforce—A Call to Philanthropy.