Targeted strategies for interdisciplinary innovation

Researchers in the Device Foundry, one of three facilities comprising the Centre for Research and Applications in Fluidic Technologies (CRAFT), an ISI at the University of Toronto (Image credit: Dahlia Katz)

It makes sense from an efficiency standpoint for universities to decentralise decision making, allowing faculties to manage their own operations. But this devolved organisational structure can present roadblocks for interdisciplinary innovation, leaving universities in need of a strategy to bring researchers together. 

At the University of Toronto, the Institutional Strategic Initiatives (ISIs) office provides this mechanism, and offers a practical example of how large universities can foster an environment in which interdisciplinary science thrives, allowing researchers to solve global grand challenges. 

Timothy Chan, the University of Toronto’s associate vice-president and vice-provost of strategic initiatives, says the university pools funding and academic talent from its various divisions and applies them to interdisciplinary projects.

“The goal is not just to fund initiatives internally, because we can’t do that forever. But it’s to build a track record and set them up for external success,” he says. “We help build up the initiative, and then when the opportunity arises – whether it is a government grant, an industry partnership, a philanthropic opportunity – we are ready to capitalise because we have already got the structures, the teams and supports in place.”

The ISIs cover a broad range of research topics, including climate change, transport and infrastructure, robotics and AI, and cutting-edge healthcare. The University of Toronto’s diverse research portfolio is crucial, allowing the university to roll the dice on high-risk projects without fear of failure. 

“We need to invest in these kinds of high-risk, high-reward initiatives because if we don’t, it will be harder to compete on the international stage for big opportunities,” Chan says. “We have very steady and stable research programmes that are advancing discoveries, which is great, and that remains a priority for support. But it has become clear that it is also crucial to develop a portfolio into which we make targeted investments, and for us, that’s the ISIs.” 

Partnerships with outside agencies, be they peer institutions, industry or governmental organisations such as the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, with which the University of Toronto has signed an extension to its five-year deal, can play a key role. The university’s partnership with the NRC has deepened over the years. One of the University of Toronto’s research projects is developing small-scale bio-medical fluidic devices that could be used to diagnose diseases without having to send a blood sample back to a laboratory. With a hospital partner now involved, researchers can trial innovations in a clinical setting.

New partnerships can be brokered by building on the success of the ISIs, which help tell the story of research excellence at the University of Toronto. “The ISIs are an excellent way to bring together all of these diverse research stories into a very cohesive narrative,” Chan says. 

The message is clear: the University of Toronto is open for interdisciplinary collaboration and it has the resources to make it happen. 

Times Higher Education has partnered with Schmidt Science Fellows to develop a new ranking measuring universities’ contribution to interdisciplinary science. Find out how to participate.

Find out more about Schmidt Science Fellows.

Find out more about the University of Toronto’s ISIs.