Workshop on the Scientific Basis of Individual and Team Innovation and Discovery

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How do scientists and engineers discover and innovate? The creative process is often portrayed as one shrouded in mystery, and the domains of science and engineering are no exception. Imagine the stereotype of the eccentric professor, for instance, staring intently at a blackboard full of equations, who then suddenly sees the answer that had been hidden for months or even years. Or imagine a team of engineers going out for lunch to take a break from an impasse they have hit, and in the middle of casual conversation they come upon a novel approach to the problem, one that elegantly gets around the impasse. These scenarios depict the births of discoveries and innovations that, with nurturing and perseverance, can grow to have long-lasting impacts on the fields of science and engineering, and the world at large.The National Science Foundation is sponsoring a workshop centered around the creative process as it pertains to science and engineering. The workshop will bring together cognitive scientists, social psychologists, and engineers to share their research in an effort to identify some of the factors that contribute to discoveries and innovations. In doing so, the workshop will help to open up a cross-disciplinary dialog with the goal of producing useful knowledge for making investments that advance the frontiers of science and engineering.