Realization of the applications and execution of the hard science and engineering research described in the prior sections necessitates education improvements. Workshop participants were divided into two groups to evaluate educational needs, with one group examining undergraduate education needs and the second group examining graduate education needs.
The overall consensus was that training of students and academicians for interdisciplinary research requires a significant departure from the predominant current education approach wherein an individual becomes highly specialized in a scientific/engineering niche. Instead, a “renaissance” education, wherein an individual can speak the technical language of multiple disciplines but is specialized in a specific area, is necessary.
The following summarizes the ideas/issues to be raised/addressed/considered:
Undergraduate Education
Interdisciplinary education at the undergraduate level must be integrated within a curriculum that is already impacted and stretched. Science and engineering majors at most universities have among the greatest unit requirements/restrictions for degrees. As a result, adding additional content is not a realistic option. Additional material could only be added as replacement material or within an alternative/elective class.
The primary objective at the undergraduate level was to expose students to multiple disciplines and inter-disciplinary research to broader their scientific view and appeal to their interests. It was determined that rigorous interdisciplinary training is best accomplished at the graduate level and therefore the objective at the undergraduate level is more towards educating students regarding this opportunity.
Alternative mechanisms for introducing more life science content into engineering curricula and visa versa identified include:
Bio-Chem-Geo-Civil Seminar series: A one/two unit course in which professors from multiple disciplines each lecture for one/two weeks providing an introduction to their respective discipline.
Bio-Chem-Geo-Civil Course: A full technical elective course that is taught by three/four professors from the disciplines of biological sciences, chemistry, geosciences, and civil engineering. The course, for example, could focus on soil samples and characterizing them from all discipline perspectives – microbial community, chemical stability/oxidation, geological formation process, hydraulic flow properties, and strength and compressibility.
Research Internships: Significant interdisciplinary education occurs very effectively through one-on-one interactions. Undergraduate students should be immersed in the laboratory to perform research alongside graduate students and/or professors.
Graduate/Post-graduate Education
The education structure for graduate/post-graduate education differs significantly between the US and the UK systems. In the US, students take up to 50 course unit hours (1 unit = 1 contact hour per week for 10 weeks on quarter system or 14 weeks on semester system) as part of their doctoral education. In the UK, students are not required to take additional course work for their doctoral degree, though an increasing number of students are taking some courses. Participants agreed that an interdisciplinary course series (two to thee courses) would be a format amenable to both education structures.
The following characteristics were identified as being important for any graduate education model being considered:
Core Competency Training: Inter-disciplinary training/education is intended to substantially broaden one’s capabilities, but it does not replace the necessity of being a specialist in a specific technical area.
Multi-Language Training: Students must become sufficiently familiar with other disciplines such that they can interact intelligibly with discipline specific individuals (e.g. biological, chemists, geologists, geotechnical engineers) and can identify and understand what they do know and what they don’t know.
The following formats were identified as being potentially effective in interdisciplinary training at the graduate level:
Journal Paper Discussion Group: An informal setting in which researchers from various disciplines come together and discuss journal papers related to the interdisciplinary research problem of interest.
Bio-Chem-Geo-Civil Seminar series: A one/two unit course in which professors from multiple disciplines each lecture for one/two weeks providing an introduction to their respective discipline. This could include assigned journal/text readings.
Bio-Chem-Geo-Civil Course Sequence: A full technical elective course series that is taught by several professors from the disciplines of biological sciences, chemistry, geosciences, and civil engineering. Different models representative of this format were identified by program participants. Namely:
INRA Subsurface Graduate Program (http://ssgp.boisestate.edu/Default.htm): The Subsurface Science Graduate Program (SSGP) is a long-term collaborative effort by the universities of the Inland Northwest Research Alliance (INRA) to enhance research and education in the subsurface sciences.
Exploring Interfaces through Graduate Education and Research (EIGER)
(http://www.eiger.geos.vt.edu/): The EIGER Program at Virginia Tech, supported by NSF IGERT funding through 2010, focuses on graduate research in the areas of 1) interdisciplinary environmental interface science, as studied by physical scientists and engineers, and 2) human interfaces within interdisciplinary scientific and engineering teams, as studied by behavioral scientists. Ten departments in four colleges are involved in this project which will support 27 Ph.D. students over its lifetime.
Science/Engineering/MBA Degree: A combined technical and business graduate degree program designed to equip student competent in implementing bio-based solutions in industry. This idea was driven through recognition of the need for research to be realized in industry.
Doctoral Training Degree: In the UK centers are being formed that support doctoral training degrees. These degrees programs are coursework only doctoral programs designed to equip students who are intent on working in industry. This program is appealing due to the large number of course hours that would be available for interdisciplinary training.
lecture for one/two weeks providing an introduction to their respective discipline.