It's good to talk. While at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, I could pop along the corridor at any time and chat to a world expert about the topic of my choice — a real luxury. The hardest times of my PhD have been those when I felt most isolated and didn't talk to others. I guess I've really learned the benefits of bringing scientists together.

I don't just mean researchers from different fields, but also theorists and experimentalists from the same area. Different skills and a new perspective can be just what the doctor ordered when it comes to tackling the latest problems.

The most engaging debates I've had have been with scientists from the opposite end of the spectrum. My brother, a geneticist, asks me how to write programs to analyse his data. In return he shows me new statistical techniques that might be useful in my research. In my own field, the ‘need to talk’ has spurred some of us to organize a conference where young experimentalists and theorists will do exactly that — talk.

Multidisciplinary research centres are popping up all over the place. Bridging the gap between one field and another is risky for a scientist, but the rewards can be high. And as people recognize this untapped potential, interdisciplinary science can only go from strength to strength.