Why the next breakthroughs are multidisciplinary

Innovation is often imagined as the stroke of genius that changes the world overnight. But the reality of breakthroughs is more nuanced—they’re born out of a deep understanding of complex problems, pushed forward by diverse perspectives, iteration and (often) decades of combined effort. The future of transformative innovation lies not in isolated expertise but in the fusion of disciplines, the coming together of varied viewpoints to create something radically new.

1. What makes a breakthrough?

A true breakthrough doesn’t just solve a problem—it redefines how we approach it. In any field, breakthroughs often emerge from those moments when we look at a problem differently, when we challenge its most basic assumptions[1].

Take antibiotics: Alexander Fleming’s accidental discovery[2] of penicillin redefined medicine, not because he set out to “cure all infections” but because he noticed something strange in his Petri dish. By seeing beyond the obvious and exploring an unconventional path, he opened the door to an entirely new way of treating bacterial infections.

In the context of climate change, for example, we’re seeing groundbreaking approaches as researchers look beyond traditional science to integrate knowledge from ecology, engineering, and even social sciences. Projects that aim to capture carbon directly from the atmosphere[3] blend chemistry with environmental science, engineering, and policy. By understanding the problem from multiple perspectives, we can redefine how to tackle it on a much larger scale.

2. Why most innovation is incremental

Many of today’s innovations are incremental—they bring small improvements rather than radical change (and that’s fine!). This isn’t because we lack imagination; it’s often a result of how we’re structured to work. Organizations are divided into departments, and disciplines are neatly separated. This structure encourages experts to solve problems within their own “silos,” making it difficult to think beyond the usual parameters[4].

These silos mean that teams can end up solving similar problems repeatedly, often without knowing it. In IT, for instance, we see endless cycles of software updates and “upgraded” devices, but they often don’t push the boundaries of what’s possible. To aim for complete redefinition, renewal (many words starting with RE-, really) we need to reach across these divisions, to combine expertise in unexpected ways that disrupt our usual ways of thinking.

3. Creativity is largely combinational

Great ideas are rarely born in a vacuum—they’re usually the result of combining concepts from different domains[5]. Consider the story of the Velcro fastener, inspired by the way burrs cling to clothing. A Swiss engineer, George de Mestral, combined his background in engineering with an observation from nature, leading to a new type of fastening[6] that changed industries.

The power of combinational creativity is that it expands our toolkit for problem-solving. Take AI-driven medical diagnostics as another example. Engineers working on image recognition technology may not fully understand the subtleties of cancer or heart problem diagnostics. But when medical researchers join forces with AI experts, they can develop tools that identify tumors or motion abnormalities in the heart more accurately than either group could alone. This intersection of artificial intelligence and medicine is creating new opportunities in preventive care and precision medicine, tackling problems that were once beyond reach (Here a bit of VTT research placement: I invite you to check out the research pitch of our very own Ay?en De?erli at the Millenium Young Scientist Contest).

4. The importance of multidisciplinarity

The value of multidisciplinarity is that it brings together minds with different training, perspectives, and “toolkits” to create something new. When teams are built from diverse disciplines, they bring a richness of experience and approaches that allow them to see problems—and solutions—from angles others might miss.

Take the emerging field of quantum biology[7]. By exploring quantum mechanics within biological systems, scientists are uncovering mysteries about how plants achieve near-perfect efficiency in photosynthesis and how birds may navigate using Earth’s magnetic field. Quantum physics, once reserved for studying particles in a vacuum, is now unlocking secrets in living organisms. This progress would have been impossible without biologists and quantum physicists collaborating to understand how these phenomena could even be possible.

Another example is bioinformatics[8], where biologists and computer scientists work side-by-side. This field has accelerated discoveries in genomics and disease research by developing complex algorithms to analyze vast amounts of genetic data. Without both perspectives, we wouldn’t have made the leaps in personalized medicine that are already saving lives today.

The next big breakthroughs WILL be multidisciplinary (and even interdisciplinary)

To solve the complex challenges facing us, from climate change to public health, we need ideas that transcend traditional disciplines. These problems don’t fit into neat categories, so our solutions shouldn’t either. We need to encourage scientists, engineers, artists, and humanists to collaborate and build a culture that celebrates crossing boundaries.

An architect, an urban planner, a psychologist walk into a lab…

Imagine a team where an architect, an urban planner, a psychologist, and a software developer work together to reimagine smart cities. The architect brings knowledge of physical space, the urban planner understands infrastructure, the psychologist can assess human behavior, and the developer knows how to integrate digital technologies. Together, they can design spaces that are sustainable, tech-forward, and genuinely improve people’s quality of life.

At the end of the day, breakthroughs happen when we’re open to exploring the unknown, when we bring together diverse perspectives that let us see problems differently. By building multidisciplinary teams, we’re not just advancing our fields—we’re redefining them, creating solutions that couldn’t have come from any single perspective alone. The next generation of breakthroughs will be bold, and they will be multidisciplinary.

?#innovation #research #multidisciplinary #breakthroughs #beyondtheobvious #creativity

[1] Simonton, D. K. (2013). "After Einstein: Scientific genius is extinct." Nature, 493(7434), 602.

[2] Fleming, A. "On the Antibacterial Action of Cultures of a Penicillium, with Special Reference to Their Use in the Isolation of B. Influenzae." British Journal of Experimental Pathology, 1929.

[3] Lackner, K. S., et al. "The urgency of the development of CO2 capture from ambient air." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019.

[4] Tushman, M. L., & O'Reilly, C. A. (1996). "Ambidextrous organizations: Managing evolutionary and revolutionary change." California Management Review, 38(4), 8-29.

[5] Smith, S. M., Ward, T. B., & Finke, R. A. (1995). "The creative cognition approach." MIT Press.

[6] de Mestral, G. "Velcro and the Invention of Hook-and-Loop Fasteners." Journal of Textiles and Innovation, 1955.

Bhushan, B. (2009). "Biomimetics: Lessons from nature–an overview." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 367(1893), 1445-1486.

[7] Arndt, M., Juffmann, T., & Vedral, V. (2009). "Quantum physics meets biology." HFSP Journal, 3(6), 386-400.

[8] Marx, V. (2013). "Biology: The big challenges of big data." Nature, 498(7453), 255-260.