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bridging
the sciences coalition
Background
In the spring of 2003, the Biophysical Society spearheaded the formation of a coalition to push for new federal money for "Bridging the Sciences", that is, for supporting research to bridge between the physical/computational and the biological sciences. As a result of new funding, biologists would have a larger pipeline of new physical and computational technologies that will provide the "What's Next?" after structural biology, genomics, and proteomics. Someday, drug discovery and the curing of diseases will no longer be bench sciences that require disease-by-disease and molecule-by-molecule experiments. Biology is destined to become a discipline based on principles, methods, and models that will be quantitative and reliable without case-by-case experiments. For physical scientists, this initiative will open up new opportunities afforded by a broadened interface with the life sciences. With the end of the Cold War, one of the key routes to the revitalization of the funding of basic research in the physical sciences is likely to come through newfound connections to biomedicine and bioterrorism.
Supporting Documents The Coalition has developed a White Paper that explain in detail the importance of investing in research at the interface of the physical, computation, mathematical and life sciences. Testimony Steve Chu delivered to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies in April of 2003, as well as the article entitled “The New Technological Revolution: Will the U.S. Lead, or Fall Behind” also provide excellent background on the important role the bridging sciences play in biomedical research.
Activities Report language and Follow-up Meetings Coalition representatives have met with stakeholders, congressional members and staff, leaders at NIH leaders, NSF, and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science to discuss our concerns about funding for research at the interface. In 2003, these discussions resulted in language included in reports accompanying the FY 2004 appropriations bills. The language requires NIH and NSF to convene an interagency conference to discuss how agencies can effectively facilitate research at the interface of the life and the physical sciences.
In May 2004, the NIH and NSF held the interagency conference required by Congress. The results of this closed meeting were made public at the end of June. The report shows that the government participants agree that research at the interface of the life and the physical sciences needs to be encouraged and that barriers to that type of research do exist. A public follow-up meeting will be held on November 9th in Bethesda, Maryland. The press release provides more information on that meeting. Coalition representatives will be participating in the meeting.
Meeting in Half Moon Bay, California With the generous support of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Bridging the Sciences Coalition, run by the Biophysical Society, held a meeting June 17-18, 2004 to consider how best to support research at the interface where the physical, computational and mathematical sciences meet the life sciences. The meeting was held in Half Moon Bay, California.
The goal of the project was to bring together respected scientists from the computational, mathematical, physical, and life sciences to discuss how the federal government can best fund research at the interface. To come to this conclusion, the day long meeting included discussions of why this is important, what the current obstacles were, if any, and how those obstacles could be overcome.)
Fourteen respected scientists from a variety of disciplines to discuss the need and methods for funding the bridging sciences. The discussions clarified many of the obstacles that prevent scientists from undertaking research at the interface as well as possible solutions.
In brief, the findings were that there is a real need for the federal government to find new federal dollars to support basic research at the interface between the life and physical sciences and that the government is currently missing major scientific opportunities because it does not adequately fund this type of research. In order to be more successful in this area, the government must make a long-term stable commitment to funding this type of research, offer a variety of grant types for this kind of research, and make adjustments to the peer review process to accommodate scientists that do not work primarily in biology. The summary report of the meeting provides more details.
For more information
or to join the Bridging the Sciences Coalition, please contact
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