The ideas lab as a mechanism for enabling interdisciplinary and convergence research
Valle, A. N. R., McCauley-Hartner, A., Cains, M., Montaño, P. A.. (2026). The ideas lab as a mechanism for enabling interdisciplinary and convergence research. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, doi:https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-26-0162.1
| Title | The ideas lab as a mechanism for enabling interdisciplinary and convergence research |
|---|---|
| Genre | Article |
| Author(s) | Alexandra N. Ramos Valle, Auliya McCauley-Hartner, Mariana Cains, Patricia A. Montaño |
| Abstract | The NSF NCAR Faculty Innovator Program funds university faculty to codevelop interdisciplinary, actionable research projects in partnership with NSF NCAR scientists and engineers, with the goals of expanding capacity for convergence research and building a network of expertise across the Earth system sciences. Because interdisciplinary and convergence research requires deep integration across fields, coproduction of new knowledge, and sustained effort to build trusting team relationships, the program has refined its selection process with each call to better foster these dynamics. In August 2025, the program piloted an Ideas Laboratory—a workshop designed to maximize creative, interdisciplinary collaboration—as the first step in selecting its fourth cohort. The workshop enabled prospective applicants to codevelop letters of intent with NSF NCAR collaborators, a subset of whom were later invited to submit full proposals. Its primary outcomes were the formation of initial interdisciplinary teams and the drafting of letters of intent. This summary describes how the Ideas Laboratory's structure, content, and participant composition were intentionally designed to maximize convergence potential, detailing the workshop design, daily activities, outcomes, challenges, and opportunities, along with findings from a formal evaluation assessing whether it achieved its intended goals and how participants perceived the event. |
| Publication Title | Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society |
| Publication Date | May 1, 2026 |
| Publisher's Version of Record | https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-26-0162.1 |
| OpenSky Citable URL | https://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7m61qv2 |
| OpenSky Listing | View on OpenSky |