Module 24: Systems Thinking and Interdisciplinary Science

Develop a systems perspective to solve complex scientific problems by integrating ideas across disciplines.

🌎 Foundations of Systems Thinking

Systems thinking helps you understand complex interactions, feedback, and emergent phenomena.

  • System boundaries and relationships
  • Feedback loops and causality
  • From parts to whole: emergence

🔗 Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Connectomics brings together biology, computation, engineering, ethics, and more. Learn to integrate methods and mindsets.

  • Shared vocabulary and bridging jargon
  • Cross-disciplinary team science
  • Case studies in connectomics and beyond

🔄 Holistic Approaches to Data

Apply systems concepts to data interpretation and hypothesis generation in connectomics.

  • Mapping neuron-level and system-level properties
  • Integrating functional and structural data
  • Pattern detection across scales

🌟 COMPASS Integration

  • Knowledge: Systems frameworks, disciplinary methods
  • Skills: Pattern analysis, team science
  • Character: Openness to other perspectives
  • Meta-Learning: Linking frameworks across domains

📚 References & Resources

  • Meadows, 2008. Thinking in Systems
  • NASEM, 2005. Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research
  • Colab: "Systems Map Generator for Connectomics"

✅ Assessment

  • Create a system map for a neuroscience problem
  • Identify disciplines contributing to a connectomics challenge
  • Write a reflection on how systems thinking affects your analysis