U.S. National Academies Promote Interdisciplinary Research

摘要

More than 150 people gathered last November in Irvine, Calif., at the second annual National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Conference. Each year's conference focuses on an interdisciplinary theme. November's conference, "Designing Nanostructures at the Interface between Biomedical and Physical Systems," attracted scientists, engineers, and medical researchers to explore the intersection of nanotechnology with their fields. To encourage further interdisciplinary work on nanotechnology, the Academies announced the availability of $1 million in seed grants—up to $75,000 each—which will be awarded on a competitive basis to conference participants and their research partners in other disciplines to spur new lines of research identified at the conference between fields in areas related to nanotechnology. Grant recipients will be announced in April 2005.