Structures Of Scientific Collaboration

How technology and bureaucracy shape collaborative scientific research projects: an empirical study of multiorganizational collaboration in the physical sciences. Collaboration among organizations is rapidly becoming common in scientific research as globalization and new communication technologies make it possible for researchers from different locations and institutions to work together on common projects. These scientific and technological collaborations are part of a general trend toward more fluid, flexible, and temporary organizational arrangements, but they have received very limited scholarly attention. Structures of Scientific Collaboration is the first study to examine multi-organizational collaboration systematically, drawing on a database of 53 collaborations documented for the Center for History of Physics of the American Institute of Physics. By integrating quantitative sociological analyses with detailed case histories, Shrum, Genuth, and Chompalov pioneer a new and truly interdisciplinary method for the study of science and technology. Scientists undertake multi-organizational collaborations because individual institutions often lack sufficient resources--including the latest technology--to achieve a given research objective. The authors find that collaborative research depends on both technology and bureaucracy; scientists claim to abhor bureaucracy, but most collaborations use it constructively to achieve their goals. The book analyzes the structural elements of collaboration (among them formation, size and duration, organization, technological practices, and participant experiences) and the relationships among them. The authors find that trust, though viewed as positive, is not necessarily associated with successful projects; indeed, the formal structures of bureaucracy reduce the need for high levels of trust--and make possible the independence so valued by participating scientists.

Current scientific research almost always requires collaboration among several (if not several hundred) specialized researchers. When scientists co-author a journal article, who deserves credit for discoveries or blame for errors? How should scientific institutions promote fruitful collaborations among scientists? In this work, leading philosophers of science address these critical questions

The past half-century has witnessed a dramatic increase in the scale and complexity of scientific research. The growing scale of science has been accompanied by a shift toward collaborative research, referred to as "team science." Scientific research is increasingly conducted by small teams and larger groups rather than individual investigators, but the challenges of collaboration can slow these teams' progress in achieving their scientific goals. How does a team-based approach work, and how can universities and research institutions support teams? Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science synthesizes and integrates the available research to provide guidance on assembling the science team; leadership, education and professional development for science teams and groups. It also examines institutional and organizational structures and policies to support science teams and identifies areas where further research is needed to help science teams and groups achieve their scientific and translational goals. This report offers major public policy recommendations for science research agencies and policymakers, as well as recommendations for individual scientists, disciplinary associations, and research universities. Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science will be of interest to university research administrators, team science leaders, science faculty, and graduate and postdoctoral students.

In recent years the organisation and practice of collaboration in the life sciences has undergone radical transformations, owing to the advent of big science enterprises, newly developed data gathering and storage technologies, increasing levels of interdisciplinarity, and changing societal expectations for science. Collaboration in the New Life Sciences examines the causes and consequences of changing patterns of scientific collaboration in the life sciences. This book presents an understanding of how and why collaboration in the life sciences is changing and the effects of these changes on scientific knowledge, the work lives and experiences of scientists, social policy and society. Through a series of thematically arranged chapters, it considers the social, technical, and organizational facets of collaboration, addressing not only the rise of new forms of collaboration in the life sciences, but also examining recent developments in two broad research areas: ecology and environment, and the molecular life sciences. With an international team of experts presenting case studies and analyses drawn from the US, UK, Asia and Europe, Collaboration in the New Life Sciences will appeal not only to scholars and students of science and technology studies, but also to those interested in science and social policy, and the sociology of work and organisations.

Science is increasingly defined by multidimensional collaborative networks. Despite the unprecedented growth of scientific collaboration around the globe – the collaborative turn – geography still matters for the cognitive enterprise. This book explores how geography conditions scientific collaboration and how collaboration affects the spatiality of science. This book offers a complex analysis of the spatial aspects of scientific collaboration, addressing the topic at a number of levels: individual, organizational, urban, regional, national, and international. Spatial patterns of scientific collaboration are analysed along with their determinants and consequences. By combining a vast array of approaches, concepts, and methodologies, the volume offers a comprehensive theoretical framework for the geography of scientific collaboration. The examples of scientific collaboration policy discussed in the book are taken from the European Union, the United States, and China. Through a number of case studies the authors analyse the background, development and evaluation of these policies. This book will be of interest to researchers in diverse disciplines such as regional studies, scientometrics, R&D policy, socio-economic geography and network analysis. It will also be of interest to policymakers, and to managers of research organisations.

Science is increasingly defined by multidimensional collaborative networks. Despite the unprecedented growth of scientific collaboration around the globe – the collaborative turn – geography still matters for the cognitive enterprise. This book explores how geography conditions scientific collaboration and how collaboration affects the spatiality of science. This book offers a complex analysis of the spatial aspects of scientific collaboration, addressing the topic at a number of levels: individual, organizational, urban, regional, national, and international. Spatial patterns of scientific collaboration are analysed along with their determinants and consequences. By combining a vast array of approaches, concepts, and methodologies, the volume offers a comprehensive theoretical framework for the geography of scientific collaboration. The examples of scientific collaboration policy discussed in the book are taken from the European Union, the United States, and China. Through a number of case studies the authors analyse the background, development and evaluation of these policies. This book will be of interest to researchers in diverse disciplines such as regional studies, scientometrics, R&D policy, socio-economic geography and network analysis. It will also be of interest to policymakers, and to managers of research organisations.

Health research and health care practice are radically transforming as governments invest more in large scale, national and international health projects with increasing levels of interdisciplinarity as populations age and as nations grow wealthier. This volume examines the structures and dynamics of scientific collaboration in health research and health care. Bringing together detailed research from the US, Canada, Europe and Japan, Collaboration Across Health Research and Medical Care sheds light on the features, environments and relationships that characterise collaboration in health care and research, exploring changing patterns of collaboration and examining the causes and consequences of team work in the health domain. With attention to the increasingly porous boundaries between health care and research, the book not only investigates research settings, but also considers the manner in which knowledge produced in laboratories and clinics is translated into day-to-day medical and care practice and health initiatives. It offers a rich examination of the political, technical and organisational facets of collaboration and the implications of changes in collaboration for every day treatment and practice, Collaboration Across Health Research and Medical Care will be of interest to scholars of sociology and science and technology studies, as well as those working in the field of health policy and research.

Health research and health care practice are radically transforming as governments invest more in large scale, national and international health projects with increasing levels of interdisciplinarity as populations age and as nations grow wealthier. This volume examines the structures and dynamics of scientific collaboration in health research and health care. Bringing together detailed research from the US, Canada, Europe and Japan, Collaboration Across Health Research and Medical Care sheds light on the features, environments and relationships that characterise collaboration in health care and research, exploring changing patterns of collaboration and examining the causes and consequences of team work in the health domain. With attention to the increasingly porous boundaries between health care and research, the book not only investigates research settings, but also considers the manner in which knowledge produced in laboratories and clinics is translated into day-to-day medical and care practice and health initiatives. It offers a rich examination of the political, technical and organisational facets of collaboration and the implications of changes in collaboration for every day treatment and practice, Collaboration Across Health Research and Medical Care will be of interest to scholars of sociology and science and technology studies, as well as those working in the field of health policy and research.