A recent forum in Washington D.C. discussed the rise in “convergence science”—a new model in which engineering and physical sciences, among other disciplines, join forces with the life sciences. One of the topics discussed was the success of the Big Ideas competition, in which CITRIS and other organizations on the UC Berkeley campus provides incentives to interdisciplinary teams of students to come up with better ways to purify water, tackle illiteracy, or diagnose malaria, for example. More about the forum is online at
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/01/05/is_convergence_the_new_big_idea_for_health_sciences