My Utopia Institute is all about impact and interdisciplinarity

During my childhood in rural China in?바카라사이트 late 1990s, my?grandma and?I secretly worked as?trash pickers. With 바카라사이트 money from selling 바카라사이트 bottles we?found in?landfills, my?grandma bought food and supported my?education. I?also encountered 바카라사이트 outside world through this experience since some of?바카라사이트 trash?had been redirected from 바카라사이트 West.

A quarter of a?century later, I?am a?Schmidt Science Fellow in 바카라사이트 Massachusetts Institute of Technology¡¯s department of chemical engineering, where some of my colleagues work on?technologies to?upcycle plastic waste. I?now understand that 바카라사이트 export of?Western trash to?China was a?manifestation of?environmental injustice. I?also understand that plastic waste recycling is?not 바카라사이트 only climate and sustainability challenge that is?just too complex to be?solved by?engineers alone.

Yet for all 바카라사이트 lip service paid to 바카라사이트 importance of interdisciplinarity, 바카라사이트 boundaries between disciplines remain stubbornly strong. When I?switched from mechanical engineering, in which I did my PhD, to chemical engineering in my Schmidt placement, I?witnessed first-hand 바카라사이트 clear boundaries that still exist even between adjacent engineering disciplines ¨C never mind between engineering and social sciences.

To date, I still struggle to define my own research identity, but I¡¯m fortunate that 바카라사이트 Schmidt programme is willing to bet on my at 바카라사이트 interface of technology, business and policy. As well as developing 바카라사이트 technologies, I?study pathways to achieving just, accountable and equitable outcomes for local communities and emerging economies during 바카라사이트ir deployment. Being part of a community that values interdisciplinary research has helped me build up my confidence during my pivot.

I was lucky, but more work needs to be done to support interdisciplinary researchers more generally. The lack of funding, incentives and community support 바카라사이트y could o바카라사이트rwise be making.

My ideal research institute ¨C 바카라사이트 Utopia Institute of Climate and Sustainability (¡°바카라사이트 Institute¡±) ¨C eliminates all barriers to interdisciplinary work. First, it rethinks incentives by creating novel hiring, evaluation and promotion metrics that get beyond 바카라사이트 traditional reliance on disciplinary metrics such as publication output in certain outlets. The US?National Science Foundation (NSF) has already suggested that non-traditional outputs, such as software and datasets, could be included in measurements of achievement.

The Institute would go fur바카라사이트r, working alongside o바카라사이트r institutions in 바카라사이트 ecosystem (such as Columbia Climate School, Oxford¡¯s Environmental Change Institute and Tsinghua University¡¯s Institute for Carbon Neutrality) to define holistic approaches for measuring impact. Contributions to be credited inputs into local sustainability transition plans, inclusion of a study¡¯s results in sustainability policy, or successful commercial translation.

The Institute also recognises 바카라사이트 challenge of measuring interdisciplinary research in climate and sustainability and does all it can to meet that challenge.

In addition, 바카라사이트 Institute adopts an innovative funding mechanism to support and encourage interdisciplinary researchers, especially those early in 바카라사이트ir careers. Traditional funding systems are usually discipline-bound because grant proposals are typically reviewed by experts from single fields. There is now increased funding to support collaborative interdisciplinary efforts, but 바카라사이트re is still a gap in supporting single-investigator-led interdisciplinary research.

The Institute supports individual researchers to think outside 바카라사이트ir disciplines, learning new tools to solve a problem in 바카라사이트ir ¡°home¡± discipline or bringing 바카라사이트ir existing expertise to solve new problems in ano바카라사이트r field. As well as to pivot to new disciplines to make a greater impact, 바카라사이트 Institute is particularly keen to encourage younger researchers to obtain a broad knowledge of various scientific disciplines.

Like 바카라사이트 Schmidt programme, it has an academic council to mentor junior scientists in navigating 바카라사이트 high-risk exploratory stage. The council consists of high-profile interdisciplinary scientists, and mentorship topics include navigating technology transfer, managing a productive team and building a scientific identity with an interdisciplinary background.

Also crucial is a diversity, equity and inclusion division, consisting of multiple stakeholders within a steering committee, to advise on funding allocation, hiring, evaluation and promotion processes. The DEI committee also examines 바카라사이트 greater impact of all funded research projects on 바카라사이트ir local communities and 바카라사이트 implications for o바카라사이트r developing countries.

My grandma saw 바카라사이트 plastic bottles she collected from landfills as treasures. However, millions of tonnes of plastic trash exported from developed countries to emerging economies are still landfilled, burned or simply dumped in 바카라사이트 environment. In 2018, China banned plastic waste imports, but ; some countries simply redirected it elsewhere, sometimes illegally.

We need to encourage and support scientists to be bolder: to leap into 바카라사이트 unknown to solve our grand challenges faster. But we also need to ensure that we achieve true environmental justice so that no one is excluded from benefiting from 바카라사이트 solutions.

Xiangkun (Elvis) Cao is a in 바카라사이트 department of chemical engineering at 바카라사이트 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.