Convergence education—an international perspective

The US National Science Foundation defines convergence as the deep integration of knowledge, techniques, and expertise from multiple fields to form new and expanded frameworks for addressing scientific and societal challenges and opportunities. Because convergence research is progressing at a rapid clip, the quick evolution of non-traditional perspectives that it engenders will present a number of challenges/opportunities to education. NSF, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine; and the University of Southern California sponsored a workshop, with global participation, to explore actions that would facilitate convergence in education. A descriptive of the workshop and the key action items it identified are presented.