The mission of the professional societies is primarily educational and informational. Their influence flows from their continuing and highly visible functions: to publish professional journals, to develop professional excellence, to raise public awareness, and to make awards. Through their work, they help to define and set standards for their professional fields and to promote high standards of quality through awards and other forms of recognition. In some ways, professional societies have a clearer overview of trends in their fields than do federal agencies, universities, and funding organizations. The central position of professional societies brings excellent leverage with which to design and promote change, including through publications, policy statements, meetings, committees, lectureships, and awards. Professional societies often host seminars, meetings and colloquiums that bring together scientists in different disciplines to learn about diverse fields and research topics, to learn the languages of different fields, and to discover where these research topics overlap. Professional societies have the opportunity to facilitate IDR by producing state-of-the-art reports on recent research developments and on curriculum, assessment, and accreditation methods; enhancing personal interactions; building partnerships among societies; publishing interdisciplinary journals and special editions of disciplinary journals; and promoting mutual understanding of disciplinary methods, languages, and cultures.
 

Professional Societies Committee