Curiosity as a discipline? Harvard thinks it can train a new breed of super smart scientists

The most difficult problems can nurture the most talented researchers.

- Anjana Ahuja

Science students at Harvard University already belong to an elite, but this term, there is a super-elite among them.

Fifteen have been selected to ruminate on major unsolved enigmas, such as how life sprang from nonliving matter or whether it is truly possible to reverse ageing.

The Genuinely Hard Problems (GHP) scheme, designed to expose bright young minds each week to the world’s biggest unanswered questions, might usefully chart a course for other institutions to follow.

According to Dr Logan McCarty, a Harvard science lecturer and dean of education who is organising the classes with the scheme’s creator, neurobiology professor Jeff Lichtman, the internet and artificial intelligence (AI) have lessened the need for ambitious thinkers to acquire specialised technical skills and internalise vast quantities of information.

Instead, Dr McCarty said, they should be seeking to understand human society and its problems:

"Prepare students to ask, 'how can we use science' and 'what should we do with science', not just 'how to do science'"

The initiative raises profound questions about the future of science education in the age of AI, including whether there should be a greater role for the humanities and social sciences.