MedILS is an international “renaissance” project, somewhat inspired by the Florence Academy of Medicis, and set up as a scientific, social and even political experiment. Its primary goal is to breed a specially trained generation of young scientists: creative, multidisciplinary professionals trained to “think the unthinkable” and do experiments about it.
MedILS is to become a “hotbed” of original intellects with a freedom to doubt and to practice a connective/synthetic thinking in high-risk innovative research.
Best young talents and the most inspiring senior scientific leaders will be invited from all over the world and let free to create a special intellectual culture.
People, not projects, will be selected because we expect the projects to be so original as to be absent from the current global repertoire of projects. The results of the research work in the course of training will be only a welcome byproduct of the primary activity of MedILS. MedILS will be a place for brain-storm gatherings, meetings and practical courses; a center of excellence in the studies of life and its manifestations, in general the study of complex systems, but no research project will be excluded a priori. MedILS is both a global international project with the European cultural imprint and a local Croatian and South-East European project.
Local, only in the sense of importing the world’s highest standards of scientific work, style and ethics - and creating a new original scientific culture - in this disfavored part of Europe.
However, MedILS is by no means a place where rich and scientifically developed will teach poor and underdeveloped how to do research.
Its mission is to create together - rich and poor - a new scientific culture that even the rich and developed do not have.
Therefore, at MedILS, rich and poor will be paid equivalently to their competence.
Why such an Institute now?
The explosion of biological, biomedical and biotechnological research over the last decades has created a serious bottleneck to its own development.
Too much is being published even in the top journals; high complexity, cost and technicality of the bio-research led to a worrisome situation in which the contributions of young scientists are rare, if not absent.
This means that the research goes on without the creative input from the young scientists; no wonder that all papers look alike - products of the work of large teams of super-technicians rather than that of the exciting hypothesis-driven research of creative scientists.
The American and European funding agencies are equally shortsighted and cruel in their requirement for fast and prolific publication (EU, and even NIH, are becoming appalling in awarding grants for “no risk” projects or in obligatory partnership with industrial entities).
The result is an impressive but quite boring scientific output: technological adventures with 20 - 100 authors! Intellectually exciting papers with one or two authors became a rarity.
Consequently, there is production of a lot of data, but not necessarily knowledge! So much data is being published that no human brain can store that amount of information in the “live memory” needed for creative synthesis towards a new “systems biology” or “integrative biology”. We now need networks of brains, sort of “collective brain”, requiring a new training, indeed a new mentality, of scientists who are endowed with social and emotional intelligence, joyful to share thoughts and results and prepared to be perpetual students learning diverse specialized scientific languages.
Multidisciplinary, multicultural, interdisciplinary and international are the desired prefixes for the new generation of scientists.
Such scientists will be also capable of communicating science and research not only among themselves but also to the media and the general public, i.e., the taxpayers who really pay for their research. New brand of scientists will also create their personal and collective ethical values in relation to their research work.
To my knowledge, there is no academic institution in the world having this as the teaching and training priority.
Media present science only as the application of research, which is there equally for the benefit (improvement of life via medicine) or harm (means for mass destruction of life) of mankind.
Few are aware that the scientific research is the irreplaceable source of training in critical and creative thinking, providing the freedom and obligation to doubt, to think creatively of most unlikely alternative hypotheses.
That is why “hard science” is the truly universal language and therefore the source of common understanding across all cultures that practice scientific research.
Why in Split, Croatia?
To lay foundations of some new and truly original human endeavor, a safe, or optimal, distance from the establishment has a certain advantage.
However, a positive reason for Split is that this particular Mediterranean region is geographically, climatically and culturally quite exceptional, and is a rich source of creative young talents. Geopolitically, this Institute should become the Center of scientific excellence for the South-East Europe.
The success of the MedILS project should play a positive role in the political stabilization of this troubled area of Europe.
To bring the world-class science, work style and work ethics into this region would offer the opportunity for top scientific training without the unavoidable expatriation of young future scientists.
But we want to be more ambitious than that: we want MedILS to become a unique place worldwide - due to the presence of unique people working and living in an exceptional, high quality social and physical environment - a place that will be sought for by the “best and brightest” intellectually courageous risk takers from the whole world.
Images of life and work at MedILS
The natural beauty and the existing buildings at MedILS (Villa Dalmatia, ex-Tito’s villa) provide a large campus that can difficultly be equaled anywhere in the world, yet there is an international airport 30 min by car or 15 min by a speedboat.
Students, instructors and professors can all be lodged on the campus such that they can mix and talk during all meals, sports (swimming, rowing, tennis playing, bowling or cross country walking and jogging) and relaxation on a breathtaking private beach.
Teaching, learning and brainstorming will be a natural way of life.
Training Courses will be provided due to the state of art equipment in high tech biological research and the world-class instructors will be shared with the affiliated famous Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the USA.
In fact, the MedILS will initially function also as a bridge between the European and American molecular biology, later on with Austral-Asian and, hopefully soon, African science.
There will be numerous small meetings at the high level on any matter of general interest as well as highly specialized meetings on specific hot issues.
The presence of about 10 research groups (about 50 scientists) will provide the live memory of the frequent meetings during the summer months.
Scientists at MedILS will work in the (horizontal) style of a cross-inspiring “jazz band” rather than a (vertical) “symphony orchestra” style with one director and a written script (project).
MedILS will be a truly international institution totally independent of local governments, with an ex-territorial status (such as the embassies and the EU and UN institutions).
English will be the working language.
The general scientific leadership and inspiration will be provided by the small team of senior scientists at MedILS, chaired by the Scientific Director, and acting under the leadership of an International Scientific Board sponsored by the EMBO.
However, MedILS will be the place for generating the diversity of ideas, and the scientific “coaches” will be there to assist in selecting the projects and to show how to do the work rather than to dictate the projects. The Management Board will have also the leading sponsors and some personalities from international institutions.
The real director will be the Scientific Director assisted by two (a Croatian and a foreign) managing directors/administrators who will have executive roles.
What will the world get from MedILS?
The key “product” of the MedILS will be a special breed of scientists.
MedILS must function as a hotbed for “growing” special people, as the result of original and effective selection and instruction processes. The results of the research of such people must be unpredictably innovative. Unlike in any existing research place, high-risk research - and therefore low rate of publication - will be encouraged.
How to achieve this goal? Through the excellence reached by special selection and instruction (e.g., mixing very young people with scientific “coaches” - exceptional individuals at the end of their scientific careers, even post-retirement), a flexible and disposable administration so efficient as to be “invisible”, and the perfect services.
The scientific and administrative management will be inspired by the best research institutions (below).
Any precedents of similar Institutes worldwide?
Yes.
The Copenhagen school of physics has transformed the physical sciences in the early 20th century and the summers (in 1950-ies to 1970-ies) in the Cold Spring Harbor and Woods Hole Laboratories have laid foundations of modern biology.
However, the Rockefeller Institute, MRC Molecular Biology Laboratory in Cambridge UK and the Basel Institute of Immunology are real sources of inspiration - examples of how selection of special individuals coupled with excellent working and living conditions can produce unmatched results.
Although closed after 3 decades of brilliant scientific success, the Basel Institute can serve as the model because it was fully funded (from a single industrial source) but without any influence on the scientific and managerial running of the Institute.
The CSHL and the MRC lab are still very prosperous but now not really different from dozens of other rich research establishments.
Basel Institute had no more than 10 permanent senior scientists and about 40 young post-docs selected on the basis of their own research project and interviews. Their contract was only for two years (renewable), but with an excellent salary.
The logistic support for their research consisted of a 150 staff of (1) technicians assisting the scientists and assuring the running of all common services (in particular, the animal facilities), and (2) building maintenance personnel and a pool of secretaries.
The salaries were so comfortable as to free the scientists of worries other than their work.
The Institute’s success was considered to be inversely proportional to the number of publications (but 3 Nobel prizes for immunology were awarded!).
With the 250 staff, the Basel Institute had a yearly budget of 25 M USD.
The global MedILS staff would total no more than 120 persons requiring today about 20 M Euro per year, including all salaries.
Statute and management of MedILS
MedILS is an international, private, non-profit scientific institution.
It is to be founded in Geneva by a group of eminent scientists.
The most delicate and risky will be the initial phase because quality and mediocrity are autocatalytic: quality attracts and generates quality and so does mediocrity for mediocrity.
Therefore, the initial work has to be done highly professionally but rapidly because long delay will erode the confidence of the public and of the politicians.
We must achieve a “tonus” for media, public and politicians by having meetings, symposia and lab courses as soon as possible! Two major phases in the realization of MedILS are envisaged:
The Project Management phase carried out by a team of three persons will organize the network of commissioned competencies leading to the completion of the legal, financial and building realities (the latter is financed by the Croatian Government).
They will construct MedILS and give the key of the MedILS to the scientists after about one year.
Project management phase will cost about 0.5 million Euro (salaries, travel expenses and the commissioned expert work of lawyers, accountants and architects).
The project management team will consist of a Croatian manager, a European manager and a secretary.
Organization of the academic and scientific life at the MedILS is under the leadership of the Institute Board and the Director acting on behalf of the International Scientific Board.