Scientific research: a collaborative endeavour is unrivalled

During the last few decades, advances in biology have motivated inventions in the form of bioinspired solutions. Such advances have resulted from the use of inter-disciplinary approaches to complex problems. Because of the specialized nature of tackling research problems, these scientific and technological developments have required collaborations with schools of different specialities. We emphasize the importance of such collaborations using as an example of our success with a small research programme in a teaching college, and to stress that the sum is greater than the parts in these joint global endeavours.