27/04/2018 -
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The advancement of Interdisciplinary Studies and the role of this new field in the development of science and technology in the world support the fact that special attention should be paid to this field in the country’s scientific development process. Taking this into consideration, INSF founded the Interdisciplinary Studies group in 2004 to promote interdisciplinary research in Natural Sciences. This research group tries to define fields of high priority in INSF based on higher order documents and needs of the country and evaluate interdisciplinary research proposals which are based on the country’s Comprehensive Roadmap, the Fifth Development Plan, and Health Roadmap.

The members of this group include distinguished professors and scientists in fields such as Polymer Engineering, Tissue Engineering, Medical Engineering, Pharmacy, Rehabilitation, and Environmental Studies.


Research Priorities in this field include:

Tissue Engineering

Tissue Engineering is a field which intends to employ the principles of engineering in the development of biological alternatives in order to restore, repair, and improve the quality of tissue. In contrast to classic biomaterials, Tissue Engineering is based on the knowledge of reconstruction and restoration than the mere implantation of a spare tissue.

The most important areas of research in this field include:

The biomaterials used in repairing tissues

The use of Tissue Engineering in repairing skin

The use of Tissue Engineering in the cardiovascular system

The use of Tissue Engineering in repairing damages done to the nervous system

New medicine and purposive drug delivery

In the modern world, we are faced with the advent of peptide and protein drugs and hormone analogue in the body which are made by the techniques in Genetics Engineering. The majority of these drugs are used for the treatment of important diseases such as cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Traditional drug delivery systems which are used in specific time intervals by the patient cannot satisfy the current needs of the world. Given the increase of peptide and protein drugs, the need to design new drug delivery systems is deemed necessary. In the conventional drug delivery systems, there is no control over the time, place and pace of drug delivery in the body. Moreover, the drug concentration is reflected in the form of peaks in the blood which can create inefficiency and other side effects. In the new drug delivery systems which are called controlled delivery systems, we can control and define the time, place and pace of drug delivery. 

The most important research areas include:

Synthesis of new drugs and purposive drug delivery in the treatment of diseases such as cancer, MS, Parkinson’s’, Alzheimer’s’, and infection 

New methods in the materials synthesis

Synthesis is a phenomenon in which a new material is made from other basic materials due to a chemical reaction. Given the need for new materials, research on the synthesis of Nano materials is absolutely necessary.

The most important research areas include:

Composite and Nano composite

Polymer, biopolymer and green polymers

Ceramic and bio ceramic

Nano materials

Natural polymers and renewable materials

The environment

The collection of factors which surround human beings and other creatures is called environment. A mixture of external elements and creatures which are in a close relationship with each other make up the environment and affect each other’s development and behavior.

The most important research areas in this field include:

Preserving, protecting, and recycling the resources

Appropriate and sustainable allocation of resources

Reducing the source of waste and their recycling

Technologies for reducing pollutants

New energies (solar energy, wind power, and biological energy)

Protecting water and soil

Rehabilitation Engineering

Rehabilitation Engineering refers to the systematic use of engineering techniques in designing, developing, adjusting, testing, assessing, and promoting the technological solutions to the problems face d by the mentally and physically disabled. Some of the important disabilities which need close attention are hearing and vision disorders and sensorimotor disorders. It is necessary to use new engineering techniques in order to introduce new treatment processes and instruments, and new rehabilitation devices. 

The most important research areas include:

Technologies for motor improvement in the physically disabled 

Smart and robotic medical and rehabilitation systems 

New devices used physiotherapy

High tech spare parts

Medical implants

A medical implant is a device which is used for replacing, supporting, or improving the performance of a damaged biological tissue. The surface of the medical implants should be designed and made from biologically compatible materials. Medical implants include a large variety such as pace maker, hearing implants, dental implants, and artificial joints. Given the technological complexities and and high economic value, medical implants contain the lion’s share in the financial turnover. More than 15 percent of the financial turnover in the market is only related to orthopedic implants. In the recent years, importing medical implants into the country has drastically increased. This shows the necessity to to develop the needed infrastructure in order to increase the industrial production of such implants in the country.    

Neural Engineering

Neural Engineering is a new field in Medical Engineering which employs the principles of engineering in order to understand, restore, replace, and improve the performance of nervous system. The main purpose behind Neural Engineering is to improve the human beings’ functional performance by creating an interaction between nervous system and engineering systems. The bulk of research in Neural Engineering is devoted to understanding information coding and processing in the sensory and motor systems of the body so that changes in the pathological conditions are determined, and more efficient methods for creating the link between nervous systems and engineering systems ( like brain-computer interface, neural prostheses, …) are developed. Given the development of this field in the world and its outstanding achievements, supporting research in this field in the country is necessary.   

New diagnosis, monitoring, operation and treatment instruments and facilities 

New achievements in medicine in the contemporary era are mainly due to the use of engineering principles in designing, building, medical instruments for diagnosis, monitoring, operation and treatment purposes. The use of new technologies of software and hardware engineering has paved the way for the development of modern imaging devices (such as ultrasound, MRI, CT Scan, and PET), monitoring physiological signals (ISG AND EEG), operation with the least invasion (laparoscopy, arthroscopy, LASER, and gamma knife) and other treatment devices (ventilator, Anesthetic machines, heart-lung machines, and dialysis machines). Given the burst of technological advances and the significant import rate by the country, supporting research in this field in the country is necessary.  



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