This publication represents the culmination of the National Academies
Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI), a program of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine supported by a 15-year, $40 million grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation to advance the future of science through interdisciplinary research. From 2003 to 2017, more than 2,000 researchers and other professionals across disciplines and sectors attended an annual "think-tank" style conference to contemplate real-world challenges. Seed grants awarded to conference participants enabled further pursuit of bold, new research and ideas generated at the conference.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Summary
1 NAKFI Origins and Evolution
2 Lessons from Developing a Robust and Flexible Model
3 The Creative Destruction and Evolution of the Futures Model
4 Fifteen Years of Innovation and Impact
Epilogue: Beyond Boundaries
References
Appendix I: Governance and Conference Steering Committees
Appendix II: Conference Participant Lists by Year
Appendix III: Summaries of Futures Grant Projects by Year
Appendix IV: Communication Awards Selection Committees and Winners by Year
Appendix V: Five- and Ten-Year Review Summaries and Panel Members
Appendix VI: NAKFI'S Use of Bibliometric Approaches to Demonstrating Impact
Appendix VII: In Practice: How to Think Like NAKFI
Appendix VIII: Creative Engagements
Appendix IX: Oversight Committee and Staff Biographies