Our reporter Zhang Gailun
"To guide the healthy development of interdisciplinary disciplines, we must not only act actively, but also let nature take its course. We must pay attention to the foundation of interdisciplinary interdisciplinary development." At the International Symposium on Interdisciplinary Science, Hong Dayong, Deputy Director of the Office of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council and Director of the Department of Degree Management and Graduate Education of the Ministry of Education, pointed out that the most urgent task is to break the closed consciousness of disciplines, remove the barriers between existing disciplines, and focus on the work. It is placed on promoting the openness, exchange, intersection and cooperation of existing disciplines, and innovation is nurtured on the basis of interdisciplinary integration.
The interdisciplinary integration has entered a stage of development.
It is the trend of the times, and there is much to be done.
Many experts pointed out at the seminar that interdisciplinary or interdisciplinary is only a means, not an end.
We still need to further break down the barriers that restrict the intersection and integration of disciplines, change concepts, and allow disciplines to intersect and integrate in a "healthy" manner.
Have the passion to pursue original innovation
At this seminar, Zhang Donggang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Renmin University of China, pointed out that the school will accelerate the interdisciplinary integration and the construction of new liberal arts, and strive to become a strategic growth point and a new driving engine for the new round of "double first-class" construction of the school.
Han Qide, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, honorary chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, and dean of the Institute of Frontier Interdisciplinary Studies at Peking University lamented that seeing more and more forces joining in the development of interdisciplinary undertakings, he has a strong opinion on my country's discipline construction and higher education undertakings. The future development is full of confidence.
Looking back at the history of modern science development, Han Qide pointed out that new disciplines are constantly emerging, but they are always broken and integrated.
"Interdisciplinary research and interdisciplinary construction are not ends in themselves, but results. Original innovations do not necessarily come from interdisciplinary fields, and cross-disciplinary research does not necessarily produce original innovations. But as long as there is the goal and passion to pursue original innovations, it is possible to propose different General scientific problems; in order to solve such problems, we will naturally learn from relevant interdisciplinary paradigms and carry out interdisciplinary research." Han Qide said.
According to Hong Dayong, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council and the Ministry of Education have already done a series of work on the intersection of disciplines.
At present, Peking University, Zhejiang University, University of Science and Technology of China and other colleges and universities have independently set up 18 interdisciplinary disciplines managed according to the first-level disciplines, such as artificial intelligence, quantum science and technology, and intangible cultural heritage, according to the major needs of economic and social development. , and nearly 200 units have independently set up interdisciplinary disciplines managed according to second-level disciplines outside the catalogue of more than 700 disciplines such as humanities medicine, data science, law and economics.
Like Han Qide, Hong Dayong also emphasized that interdisciplinary or interdisciplinary is only a means. The most important thing is to have a passion for science, curiosity about theoretical inquiry, a good academic culture, and profound professional academic quality.
Institutional barriers still need to be broken down
Han Qide reminded not to confuse interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary.
The establishment of a new discipline requires the formation of its own new and unique paradigm.
A new interdisciplinary discipline requires scholars from different disciplines to gradually break through the paradigm of the original discipline in order to solve common scientific problems in cross-research and continue to achieve success, until a new theoretical system and research framework are formed.
"This is a arduous and natural process." Han Qide said that it cannot be pre-designed, and it is not determined by authoritative departments, institutions or individuals. "What we can do is to strive to build a platform for interdisciplinary research and formulate incentive policies. , to cultivate a free and inclusive academic ecology. Don't be in a hurry to seek success and pull the seedlings to encourage growth."
Pan Qing, deputy director of the Interdisciplinary Science Department of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, saw that the development of interdisciplinary science is actually facing some difficulties.
Pan Qing said frankly that the current funding rate for cross-category research projects and cross-category talent projects is low, and there is a lack of effective review mechanisms and evaluation systems for cross-scientific research; some cross-scientific research is just a simple patchwork of multi-disciplinary research, rather than substantive intersections. Integration; Interdisciplinary As a new research paradigm, it lacks the incentives and guarantees of institutions and policies, and it is difficult to implement and promote.
In addition, some researchers are still limited by the knowledge structure of a single discipline, and there is a dependence on traditional research paths.
In order to break through these difficulties, the National Natural Science Foundation of China established the Department of Interdisciplinary Science. The concept of project setting is guided by major and complex issues, characterized by interdisciplinary scientific research, and emphasizes strong, broad, and deep crossovers.
The cultivation of cross-talented talents cannot be ignored
At the seminar, many experts from the fields of digital economy, law and artificial intelligence said that their industries urgently need cross-type and compound talents.
How to cultivate such talents?
Han Qide said that interdisciplinary talents are the foundation of promoting interdisciplinary research and interdisciplinary construction, which has been the consensus of everyone.
However, how to cultivate interdisciplinary talents is still an issue that needs to be explored urgently.
A basic point of Han Qide is that interdisciplinary talents should be cultivated in the practice of engaging in interdisciplinary research.
However, before the new interdisciplinary disciplines are truly formed, the institutional affiliation, training methods and basic requirements of students still cannot be separated from the original disciplines.
Because, all scientific research must and must be carried out under a certain paradigm.
Only when an individual truly masters the paradigm of this discipline can he lay a solid foundation for original innovation and enter other disciplines.
"We also see that those who have succeeded in interdisciplinary research are often those scholars who have done well in their own disciplines, or those who have mastered 'one trick' techniques and methods in this discipline." Han Qide said.
Hong Dayong believes that the interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary itself is hierarchical and diverse.
Some are interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary, dedicated to innovative exploration and discovery of cutting-edge science, some are to promote the compounding of knowledge, and some are to jointly tackle key problems in the process of solving problems.
The intersection of disciplines involves different schools and disciplines to meet different needs, such as the intersection of humanities and social sciences, the intersection of humanities and natural sciences, and the intersection of natural sciences and engineering disciplines... "I am afraid that the interdisciplinary performance, mechanisms and laws are still in the middle. There are some differences that need further study." Hong Dayong said.
There is also an evaluation method that needs to be studied.
Hong Dayong said that it is necessary to thoroughly implement the comprehensive evaluation of interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary achievements.
The evaluation of such achievements cannot be single-dimensional, and cannot be past-oriented, but must be future-oriented and forward-looking. "We cannot use old paradigms and standards to evaluate new achievements. Forward-looking, motivating positive It is only possible to promote the development of interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary development through the evaluation.” He believes that the management mechanism should be continuously reformed, giving greater development space and more substantive support to the interdisciplinary development, and strive to create a conducive environment for the interdisciplinary development. culture.
Xu Qingsen, director of the Department of Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, also agreed to improve the evaluation system.
"Everyone has a consensus on the concept, and it is quite difficult to implement. For the evaluation of interdisciplinary achievements, whether it is the selection of evaluation experts, the establishment of evaluation standards, or the evaluation-oriented design, there are still many problems that we need to explore in practice." Xu Qingsen He said that it is necessary to further strengthen the quality of interdisciplinary and contribution evaluation orientation, pay more attention to the contribution of its theoretical innovation, the effectiveness of solving practical problems, and promote the leading degree of scientific research method innovation.