What is Polymath

Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) is an emerging, rapidly developing, and potentially very significant force in changing scientific practice by offering a “third way” of carrying out research in addition to, or indeed, instead of, theory and experiment. It is unlikely that such a significant change can continue to be accommodated by the organizational structures that were put in place for other established research practices. This chapter will explore how research practices are changing to accommodate CSE and how that in turn may further affect structures designed to organize, co-ordinate, and fund scientific research, the most obvious change being the proliferation of cross-disciplinary collaborative teams. The chapter will end by considering what impact these changes have on ideas of professional and ethical best practice.