draft ideas for interdisciplinary learning and research in an educational institution

1. Sachiko Hirosue
2015.12.15

2. Crystal Ball, circa 1920’sPhotographer: George Hoyningen-Huene Model: Lee Miller
for what innovative technologies
for what disruptive futures
shall we prepare?
nurture the nature of
collaboration
resilience
and remove the fear of failure
awareness of society and
environment
responsibility

3. Creativity is just connecting things.
– Steve Jobs, Wired February 1996
“Ideas rose in crowds;
I felt them collide until pairs interlocked,
so to speak, making a stable combination.”
- Henri Poincaré on the discovery of a class of Fuchsian functions
Maria Popova Smithsonian.com 6.6.2012

4. John Cleese
SPACE
TIME
TIME
Confidence
humor
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

5. SPACE
USUAL PRESSURES:
1st to publish
1st to patent
1st to market
Original idea
Comparison
Peer
Tenure
Career track
Impact factor
Competitors
Funding Pressure
Cutting Edge
Product
Application
Productive
Efficient
Ego
MENTAL
PHYSICAL
No place in lab to mix and match
To make a mess
Hackterialab2014, Yogyakarta ID

6. TIME
no time
too busy
deadlines
day dreaming
in the shower
while running
over coffee
at happy hour
Unconscious processing
Cycles of prototyping
TIME
HackteriaLab 2013 Bangalore, IN

7. Confidence
Silicon Valley Mantra
“fail fast fail often”
Frustration is a part of the process
Unconscious bias
Perfect Grades
Conclusive Experiments
Protocol said…
Webcam microscope kit version gaudilab hackteria.org

8. humor
Open for
Exchange
New knowledge
New ideas
Different disciplines
New cultures
Inclusion
Real engineering
vs Soft science
Hardcore
Serious stuff
Scientific rigor
Judgments
Exclusivity
Waterhackathon Tech4Dev Lausanne, CH 2014

9. If we provide the
SPACE, TIME, TIME, CONFIDENCE, and HUMOR,
will
happen?
creative thinking
interdisciplinary collaborations
disruptive innovation
Maybe
not?

10. make this an active process
http://kids-myshot.nationalgeographic.com/photos/view/66795/kaleidoscope-fun-shot-by-stitch-in-time

11. SB
CDH
http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/1008403/diy-kaleidoscope-craft-for-kids

12. feed
mixing
fermentation
aeration
nourishment
people
Meet
Hack
&
Brainstorm
6 month
fellowship
prototype cycles
Real world
Engagement
Feed forward
to research
educational
pilot
proposal

13. People
Bring 2nd year PhD students together
Know what is going on in their research group
On the ground knowledge of what could accelerate their research
Passed qualifying exams
Not sprinting to the end
Take stress off their advisors
A fellowship to develop cycles of prototype ideas
Let the brainstorming be informed by the students’ thesis work
Student PhD stay will become 4.5 years
Invite kindred spirits as mentors
Senior scientists, Core facility members
Interested post-docs, faculty
Outside-the-box researchers, artists

14. Set the exchange stage, bring the hacking spirit
A (required) course –
2-day? / 1-week
Open to all (2nd year PhDs) in all departments
By application
Meet
Hack
&
Brainstorm
Workshop style
List up the problematics in own research
Meet and greet – find collaborators
Bring in external guests to animate
Identify partners and projects
that require time, and collaboration
“We were constantly exchanging ideas and
comparing our findings. Everyone participated,
regardless of how much they already knew
about DIY biology.” hackteria @ SATW 2015
Hackterialab Yogyakarta, ID 2014

15. 6 month
fellowship
prototype cycles
Work on the projects
Those who came up with the projects identified in the fall = TEAM
Application?
Selection?
Space? (in one of the labs of the student teams?)

16. Real world
Engagement
“What happens when …
When we scale “the community” beyond tech creators?”
“Art changes who gets to engage“
Visual, tactile, storytelling
“Build with, not for”
Laurenellen McCann
on medium.com
Project community = research community
We and collaborators are the community

17. Feed forward
to research
After the course we gain…
After the fellowship
Students who know each other from different faculties
Laboratory specific problematics identified by the researchers themselves
Create and maintain a “parking spot” - database of actionable ideas
Open Science
Proposals / application for the fellowship
Self-initiators with some new skills
Deepened collaboration between students and their labs
Usable prototype for experiments in the lab

18. 01
06
09 03
2016
2017
Start small scale

19. Thank you for your feedback
Resources needed
Salar(ies)
Fellowships – salary for 6 months x 2-6 PhDs
Materials
Guest(s) invitation – fees, travel, accommodation, per diem
Administrative help
Institutional help (allowing students to stay 4.5 years, for e.g.)