Computers will one day match our own mental agility, but getting to that point will require neuroscientists and engineers to reverse engineer our least understood organ – the brain.
Stanford Interdisciplinary
Stanford's culture of collaboration drives innovative discoveries in areas vital to our world, our health and our intellectual life.
Building a brain: What does it take to make machines as smart as we are?
Institutes
Stanford Bio-X, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute
Carla Shatz, Director of Stanford Bio-X
From learning languages to brain repair, "There's no way we could make progress without collaboration."
Promising approaches to global freshwater challenges
As the world's population grows, so does the demand for – and threat to – the planet's freshwater supply. Solutions will come from diverse research teams tackling those pressing challenges.
Institutes
Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford (FSI), Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
Daniel McFarland, Professor of Education
What drives collaboration? Location, funding and coffee.
Collaborations drive discovery
Collaborations between Stanford and nearby SLAC National Accelerator laboratory probe everything from the most intricate molecular details of artwork or cellular structures to the origins of the universe and materials for better batteries.
Institutes
ChEM-H, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), Precourt Institute for Energy, PULSE Institute for Ultrafast Energy Science, Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES)
Grant Miller, Associate Professor of Medicine
Global health initiatives combine medicine, policy, economics, government ministries and NGOs. "It isn't easy, but the payoff is huge."
Interdisciplinary research takes students beyond the classroom
Research that bridges disciplines helps students find their future path, whether it's diving deeper into academics or taking their passion and applying it to other careers.
Institutes
Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford (FSI), Stanford Bio-X, Stanford Humanities Center (SHC), Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
