To fully understand biological systems, as well as realize their full potential, it is essential to integrate research methods and perspectives from the different subdisciplines of biology (including behavior, biophysics, molecular and cellular biology, developmental biology, ecology, evolution, genetics, neurobiology, physiology, systematics, and systems biology). However, how to integrate these subdisciplines is unclear, given the increasingly specialized training in the diversity of analytical and methodological approaches used in different biological fields. Similarly, it is uncertain what new infrastructure - physical and workforce - is needed to achieve a true integration. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science will convene an ambitious combination of virtual town halls, microlabs and jumpstart meetings, facilitated by Knowinnovation, to engage the broader biological community and solicit input regarding: 1) the exciting new research questions that could be addressed by combining approaches and perspectives from different subdisciplines of biology, 2) the key challenges and scientific gaps that must be addressed to answer these questions, and 3) the physical infrastructure and workforce training needed. Invitations to participate in the workshops will be posted on the websites of professional societies that span the biological subdisciplines, and participants will be selected with the goal of achieving breadth in expertise, career stage, gender, and members of groups underrepresented in the sciences. Products from the workshops will include a series of publications identifying the opportunities and challenges for integrating across biological subdisciplines and new ways to tackle some of the most challenging biological questions. Results will stimulate new discovery and approaches addressing major societal challenges in the training of next-generation biologists, the response of living systems to changing environments, and the development of sustainable biological resources supporting human populations.
The successful identification of how best to integrate the subdisciplines of biology requires the input and participation of a broad range of researchers across scientific subdisciplines, career levels, and expertise. Two virtual town halls, each with a maximum of 500 participants spanning the biology subdisciplines, will first identify a broad set of common themes. These virtual town halls will be followed by four virtual microlabs of up to 100 participants each (400 people total) to continue refining themes that will be addressed in a combination of in-person and virtual Jumpstart meetings. The fresh thinking and innovative approaches that will emerge from these workshops will advance understanding and further predictive capability of how key properties of living systems emerge from the interaction of genomes, phenotypes, and environment acting over space and time. Identifying the interdisciplinary research needs for integrating biology promises to address key gaps in the basic understanding of biological systems and lead to new insights into the mechanisms regulating the diversification, maintenance, and loss of life on earth, plus novel ways of studying biological interactions across hierarchical levels of organization and species.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
