Copyright © 2009 American Scientific Publishers Journal of All rights reserved Nano Education Printed in the United States of America Vol. 1, 75–85, 2009 Putting the Discipline in Interdisciplinary: Using Speedstorming to Teach and Initiate Creative Collaboration in Nanoscience Jonathan H. G. Hey1, Caneel K. Joyce2, Kyle E. Jennings3, 4 5! Thomas Kalil , and Jeffrey C. Grossman ∗ 1Berkeley Institute of Design, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA RESEARCH ARTICLE 2Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA 3Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA 4Berkeley Nanosciences and Nanoengineering Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA 5Center of Integrated NanomechanicalDelivered Systems, Berkeleyby Ingenta Nanosciences to: and Nanoengineering Institute, UniversityUniversity of California, of California, Berkeley, California Berkeley 94720, USA IP : 169.229.15.171 The most powerful scientific advancesMon, are 09 propelled Feb 2009 by creative23:24:54 ideas that cross disciplinary bound- aries. Few fields exemplify this as thoroughly as nanoscience, which promises to benefit humankind by delivering radically new technologies—if scientists from different disciplines can work together creatively. Unfortunately, initiating interdisciplinary conversations can be a costly undertaking in the context of academia, where disciplines are separated by entrenched physical and social structures. We present a new method, called ‘speedstorming,’ designed to improve the process of teaching and initiating creative collaboration. Early results show great promise for accelerating the rate of collaboration formation in the field of nanoscience. We found that for teaching and forming cre- ative collaboration, speedstorming is more efficient and more effective than group brainstorming. This article explores the rationale for using such a method in nanoscience research and education and details the steps to conducting speedstorming sessions to achieve several common aims in a variety of settings. Limitations and unanswered questions regarding the method are also explored. Keywords: Creativity, Brainstorming, Idea Generation, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Social Interaction, Boundary-Spanning. 1. INTRODUCTION ways that they can be usefully connected for the first time (Burt, 2004; Hargadon, 2003; Hargadon & Sutton, 1997; The last 50 years have been marked by a profound accel- Schumpeter, 1934; Sternberg & Lubart, 1995). In other eration of scientific progress that spans nearly every field words, science is advanced by developing “bridging ideas.” of inquiry. In many ways, the field of nanoscience is Bridging ideas are also notable because they are rare. the crown jewel of this new era. The brainchild of biol- To be a scientist, particularly in the 21st century, means to ogy, physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering be a specialist, dedicating oneself to the focused mastery (among other fields), nanoscience is poised to make sig- of one specific area of expertise. Ironically, the depth of nificant contributions by leveraging the immense creative knowledge required makes it challenging for ideas bridging power of interdisciplinary collaboration that characterizes multiple domains to be developed entirely by a single sci- scientific advances today. entist working in isolation. This means that scientists who Like the field of nanoscience itself, innovative new ideas wish to take part in boundary-spanning work must learn are born by marrying concepts from one field with those not only the material of their own domain, but also how to from another. Scientific progress depends upon creativ- collaborate with those outside it. Collaboration is rapidly ity and innovation, processes that have been empirically becoming a linchpin of individual scientific achievement. shown to occur when experts recognize analogous qualities Recognizing this, universities, national laboratories, between ideas from distant conceptual realms and identify government funding agencies, and industry have cre- ated a variety of forums—such as conferences, research ∗Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. institutes, and informal seminar series—to encourage J. Nano Educ. 2009, Vol. 1, No. 1 1936-7449/2009/1/075/011 doi:10.1166/jne.2009.012 75 Putting the Discipline in Interdisciplinary Hey et al. cross-disciplinary interaction (National Science Foun- can be generated by specialists examining their field’s dation, 2005, 2007). However, simply creating the literature and asking questions about the domain’s theory, institutional infrastructure is insufficient to ensure that data, and observations (e.g., Dunbar, 1989, 1993). Often, collaboration will occur. Finding the right collabora- however, cross-pollination—bringing ideas from one field tor requires not only a match of ideas, but also of into another—can significantly expedite the generation and personalities. Thus, even with the benefit of supportive implementation of useful new ideas. This collaboration is institutional structures, individuals must have a great deal one way, with a solution from one field imported into of personal initiative and make a significant investment if and customized for another. Therefore, we call this kind they are to find collaborators and identify an idea worth of interface “weak” interdisciplinarity. (The terms strong pursuing jointly. Making this “last mile” less costly to tra- interdisciplinarity and weak interdisciplinarity are in many verse would offer substantial rewards in terms of realizing ways paralleled by the terms interdisciplinary and cross- or the true potential of existing interdisciplinary forums. multi-disciplinary. Interdisciplinary connotes multiple dis- ciplines working as equal partners, joining together their 2. NANOSCIENCE: SETTING A NEW different bodies of knowledge to create new knowledge STANDARD FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY that answers a question or solves a problem important to CREATIVITY all stakeholders, while multi-disciplinary connotes multi- ple disciplines working together side by side, but without As a new field of research and education, nanoscience is integrating knowledge or creating new knowledge. Cross- uniquely positioned to become a template forDelivered future inter- by Ingentadisciplinary to: is a related but distinct term meaning the use disciplinary pursuits. Compared to olderUniversity fields, nascent of California,of knowledge Berkeley from one discipline to better understand fields have more malleable social structures,IP including : 169.229.15.171another, such as the sociology of music.) norms, habits, and patterns of social interaction.Mon, 09 While Feb 2009There 23:24:54 are other cases, however, where importing ideas nanoscience is still young, there is a window of opportu- is not enough. In these cases, skills from several fields nity to leverage knowledge about effective social interac- (for instance, mathematics, biology, and engineering) must tions to become one of the first fields to self-consciously come together in concert to break new ground. It is this RESEARCH ARTICLE shape itself from the inside out. Social self-awareness will form of “strong” interdisciplinary collaboration that is distinguish the scientists of tomorrow from the scientists essential to nanoscience. While it is certainly possible for of today. boundary-spanning individuals to tackle unanswered ques- It is from this perspective that we present a new tions in multiple fields (e.g., scientist Herbert Simon who way of structuring social interaction, speedstorming, that won the Nobel Prize in economics and made important can enable scientists from different domains to effi- contributions to cognitive psychology, decision-making ciently identify collaboration opportunities in a creative and computer science, among others), strong interdisci- and engaging format. We contrast this new method with plinary research is more likely to be achieved when two a common alternative, brainstorming, which emphasizes or more researchers from disparate fields, come together unstructured group idea generation. Paradoxically, we to apply their varied theories, methods and insights to a argue that by constraining and structuring creative interac- common research problem. (The authors of this piece are tions, researchers from different fields can not only pro- humble examples of this phenomenon.) duce a greater number of more original and more concrete ideas but can do so in less time and leave with a stronger sense of their overall collaborative potential with a large 3.2. Problem: Finding Collaborators is number of other researchers. Essential to Generating and Executing Interdisciplinary Ideas 3. BACKGROUND Scientists from all fields are beginning to call for increased Above we referred to the importance of interdisciplinary, attention to interdisciplinary research efforts. In fact, boundary-spanning, or bridging ideas to scientific innova- the National Science Foundation (NSF) places a prior- tion. Interdisciplinarity can be conceptualized as a con- ity on supporting interdisciplinary research collaborations tinuum from weak to strong. In this section we will through grants for research, conferences, and institutes explore how this distinction has important implications that specifically unite scholars from divergent fields. In for the types of social interactions required for scientific a recent budget request to Congress, the NSF states, collaboration. “multi-disciplinary research