ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the observation that many of the important and challenging activities at the forefront of research range broadly across the conventional disciplines and that, viewed as a whole, such topics represent emerging syntheses in science which may be recognized eventually as new disciplines. It presents the agreement that a number of barriers impede the recognition, support, and pursuit of research at the boundaries between disciplines and that the innovations proposed by the Santa Fe Institute should help lower these barriers. The chapter argues that first priority in organizing the permanent Institute must be on recruiting first-rate people. The most significant recommendation for planning the future of the Institute is that, as soon as adequate resources are available, it should sponsor multidisciplinary networks of individuals whose research interests involve a common theme and whose efforts will be mutually supportive.
