Strengthening Interdisciplinary Research at Lebanese American University: Initiatives and Facilities

The Lebanese American University strives to strengthen interdisciplinary research, particularly amongst the science disciplines, and in order to achieve this objective, several measures have been taken. We have, so far, established three Interdisciplinary Centers of Excellence such as the Center for Emerging Contaminants Research, that bring together scientists from different disciplines to work on a critical interdisciplinary project. We have also established a number of interdisciplinary clusters composed of full-time faculty from different disciplines, departments, or schools working together towards collaborative projects. Finally, we are currently developing a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies that will enshrine collaborative research as standard for both faculty and students potentially enrolled in this future program. A measure of the success of these interdisciplinary research initiatives lies in the number of successful multidisciplinary proposals submitted to our institution’s intramural grant program (the President Intramural Research fund; PIRF) as well as in the number of multidisciplinary proposals submitted to extramural funding agencies. A secondary measure of success would consist of the number manuscripts published out of these interdisciplinary research endeavors.

The Lebanese American University has developed a number of physical facilities that would foster the development of interdisciplinary research teams among scientists. In addition to the fact that most of our research labs can be used for interdisciplinary research, the university has developed specific facilities to foster interdisciplinary research including a new, state-of-the-art Animal Care Facility, core engineering labs as well as core laboratories in a number of departments and programs. All these facilities provide ample space and support for interdisciplinary research endeavors in the sciences.