Science - USA (2021-11-05)

The freedom to explore

Freedom is a theme here. The NOMIS Fellows are given liberty from





















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fellows are not tethered to an expected outcome for their proposal;

instead, ìI can spend time thinking about how I would solve a prob-

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make sure the method is done better. This lessens the burden.î Adds

Br ̧ckner: ìWhatís special is they give me permission to explore in any

direction that makes sense. In other proposals, you have to do exactly

what is written in the proposal. But high-risk/high-reward doesnít work

that wayóyou may start on one thing and end up somewhere else. So

that freedom is a huge deal.î

There is freedom to fail here, too, with the knowledge that every setback

is a potential step forward for human understanding and discovery.

    

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ing the clinical value or relevance yet,î says Currin. ìFreedom to fail is

a luxury in life and certainly in science, but here it is OK. I feel free to

change things if they are not going well.î

The mentors honor this freedom, too. ìI view the NOMIS fellowship

as an opportunity, or mostly an obligation, for mentors to give more











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posal and us putting our stamp on it. The fellows should be able to take

our advice and suggestions in different ways, but they should be in the

driverís seat.î

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Mentorship from beginning to end

At the core of IST Austriaís success is its substantial emphasis on men-



 





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experimentalists, and they in turn would not be able to do their work

without the computational side,î says Currin. ìYou need both.î

The NOMIS fellowship program ìbrings together people who typically

would not interact and trusts that they will develop something special,î

says Novarino. ìFacilitating the interactions between different groups

of people is very important. In other fellowship schemes, this typically

wouldnít happen.î



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here. ìWe donít want more of the same, with everyone thinking the

same,î she adds. ìThis is not good science. Science is based on diversity

on so many different levels. So being able to increase the range of think-

ing and the number of scientists to bridge the gap across disciplines is

essential to thinking in different ways.î

ìA problem doesnít know about disciplines and predetermined theo-





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together these disciplines allows us to solve problems in new ways that

might not have been done if we stuck with one way of doing it.î

ìIt ís great to cure cancer, but that ís not why we do these things. There are

parts of the research that are curiosity driven, where we donít know what

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that some research is about making clearly planned, hypothesis-driven

next steps. And applying for funding at any level with that knowledge is

hard. Granting agencies are not very happy if you ask for funding only

because a problem is interesting, but there are no promises of what to

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that support research at all levels of ëfuzziness.í For that reason, NOMISó



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work without it being fully planned outóis needed.î

David Br ̧ckner,

NOMIS fellow

Science is based on diversity

on so many different levels.

So being able to increase

the range of thinking and

the number of scientists to

bridge the gap across disci-

plines is essential to thinking

in different ways.

Gaia Novarino ,

professor of neuroscience,

investigating genetic causes

of neurodevelopmental

disorders

1105Product.indd 662 10/28/21 7:48 AM