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Environment

Global Science Challenges Demand More Cross-Fertilization

by Katherine C. Glasgow, Chair, Committee On Science
August 3, 2015 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 93, Issue 31

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Credit: Dan Glasgow Photography
Photo of Katherine C. Glasgow, Chair, Committee On Science
Credit: Dan Glasgow Photography

The American Chemical Society Committee on Science (ComSci) focuses on three tasks: increasing members’ understanding of emerging multidisciplinary science frontiers that have major implications for chemistry and society, the formulation of chemistry-related science policy, and the recognition of distinguished chemical scientists and engineers for prestigious external scientific awards.

Regarding emerging multidisciplinary frontiers, the committee’s emphasis this year is on advanced materials, particularly on how to accelerate innovation through multidisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration. Although few would argue with advanced materials as a key opportunity area or with the importance of cross-sector and -disciplinary cooperation, our challenge is to facilitate discussion at the intersection of these so that new insights can be communicated widely to the chemistry community.

To do this, ComSci is working with ACS divisions, journals, and external groups to identify R&D priorities and collaboration opportunities in the area of advanced materials. At the ACS national meeting this month, ComSci is holding its inaugural “ACS Division/Journal Breakout Session” to convene journal editors and division leaders to exchange ideas with industry and government experts on key challenges in moving advanced materials from discovery to application.

This experimental session builds on our successful symposium at the ACS national meeting in Denver in March on the role of advanced materials in solar energy applications. The diverse panel of speakers included top-notch academic researchers, federal officials, chief industry scientists, and postdoctoral researchers. They exchanged views on how solar energy and other global challenges require assembling teams with the right set of diverse backgrounds and experiences, scientifically, organizationally, and culturally.

However, if we are to overcome intellectual property and other barriers to public-private technology partnerships, a sufficient amount of familiarity and trust must be built among the players. Multiple interactions prior to negotiating a deal can help establish comfort and overcome mission and cultural differences among companies, universities, and government agencies. Speakers at the session pointed out that the main reasons ideas fail on commercialization are the wrong team, no value proposition, and poor implementation.

To address the first issue, agencies such as the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) hope to increase the likelihood that their funding generates results by using “teaming lists,” which create partnerships that may seem unlikely. This cross-fertilization approach helps ensure that a good idea does not languish because of a lack of understanding about the market, a lack of the right skills, or a misunderstanding about economic drivers.

The idea of connecting diverse backgrounds and points of view to spark innovation is not new, even in the materials area. The Obama Administration’s Materials Genome Initiative, for example, emphasizes a multistakeholder effort to develop an infrastructure to accelerate and sustain domestic materials discovery and deployment by leveraging diverse teams and backgrounds. To be sure, enhanced support for R&D and partnerships demands the backing of government officials and the willingness of scientists to educate them so that the resources to tackle society’s toughest problems are more likely to be understood and allocated appropriately.

As a neutral and leading source of scientific information, workforce development, and collaborative meetings, ACS is well positioned to convene leaders across sectors to address key challenges related to chemistry innovation. The 2011 ACS report “Innovation, Chemistry, and Jobs” called for the society to expand its work on accelerating innovation in the chemistry enterprise, in part by facilitating partnerships among small and large companies as well as universities and government agencies at the state and federal levels.

How can we get scientists to collaborate more? Good things happen when scientific minds share their thoughts—whether in a symposium, a strategy meeting, or an opinion column. In fact, enhanced collaboration and outreach might be just what we need to both help solve the key issues of our generation and win back some measure of trust from a science-skeptical public.

If you have experience with university/industry/government partnerships, please send your thoughts on what you believe are the key challenges and opportunities in this area to comsci@acs.org by Aug. 31 so that we can factor your input into future forums and communications.

Finally, exemplary work on global scientific challenges warrants appropriate recognition to encourage others to innovate. ComSci serves as the canvassing committee for recommending distinguished chemical scientists for the prestigious National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for a scientist. We are also working with the ACS Committee on Patents & Related Matters on recommending nominees for the companion National Medal of Technology & Innovation. We need your help on both. Please send your suggestions by Aug. 31 to comsci@acs.org.

Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACS.

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