Digital twins hold immense promise in accelerating scientific discovery, but the publicity currently outweighs the evidence base of success. We summarize key research opportunities in the computational sciences to enable digital twin technologies, as identified by a recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine consensus study report.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$99.00 per year
only $8.25 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Foundational Research Gaps and Future Directions for Digital Twins (The National Academies Press, 2023); https://doi.org/10.17226/26894
Digital Twin: Definition & Value — An AIAA and AIA Position Paper (AIAA, 2021); https://www.aia-aerospace.org/publications/digital-twin-definition-value-an-aiaa-and-aia-position-paper/
Acknowledgements
The 2023 NASEM report1 to which this Comment refers was authored by K.W. (chair), D. Bingham, J. Chung, C. Chung, C. Cruz-Neira, C. Grant, J. Kinter III, R. Leung, P. Moin, L. Ohno-Machado, C. Parris, I. Qualters, I. Thiele, C. Tucker, R. Willett, and X. Ye. The report was sponsored by the Department of Energy (Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Biological and Environmental Research), the National Institutes of Health (National Cancer Institute, Office of Data Science Strategy, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering), the National Science Foundation (Engineering Directorate, Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate), and the Department of Defense (Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
K.W. was the committee chair and B.S. was the study director for the NASEM study committee that produced the 2023 report1.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Willcox, K., Segundo, B. The role of computational science in digital twins. Nat Comput Sci 4, 147–149 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-024-00609-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-024-00609-4
