Power of the Internet to Facilitate Science Education and
Networking: The Supercourse
Organized by: Gilbert S. Omenn, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ronald LaPorte, University of Pittsburgh, PA
Historically, translation of research to world’s classrooms has been a time consuming process. A new model for information sharing is needed to bring
together scientists from different disciplines. The SuperCourse (www.pitt.edu/~super1) is a free, open source library on global health that has grown
to 3,300 PowerPoint lectures, created during the past 10 years by 1,200 faculties and shared by 42,000 scientists from 171 countries. Many lectures
are among the highest rated in Google Search. Among lecture authors are 9 Nobel Laureates, 33 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences,
29 members of the Institute of Medicine, the director of the National Institutes of Health, and a former director of the National Science Foundation.
The goal of the Supercourse is rapid sharing of the best science of global health across disciplines to scientists and educators in multiple languages.
The proximate aim is to improve scientific education by empowering teachers with highly credible template lectures readily adapted to their circumstances.
Its features are ease of usage, minimal cost, and high-quality content. The Supercourse, established at the University of Pittsburgh with a webmaster in
Novosibirsk and 42 mirror server sites, now plans to expand beyond global health into a broad Scientific Supercourse, accelerating the dissemination of
scientific developments to the world’s researchers and classrooms. This symposium will highlight the use of the Supercourse model for interdisciplinary
research and education, with specific input from several AAAS sections and international partners.