Academic Research Collaboration

Abstract

Collaboration is a twenty-first century trend in academia, especially as research questions are larger and more intricate, requiring the efforts of more people and investigators from a broader variety of disciplines and perspectives. Increasingly, the efforts of the most appropriate collaborators—those with the requisite knowledge, technical skills, and willingness to function collaboratively—are needed. Similarly, in the clinical setting, multi- and inter-disciplinary clinics and provider teams that manage patients with complex diseases and syndromes are increasingly common. Because of the need to think and work together on complex scientific and biomedical issues, emphasis in both research and clinical arenas has shifted from individual efforts to collaborative work, from independence to interdependence. Collaborative science, sometimes referred to as “team science,” is a newer concept in research. Federal funding agencies now offer more “program” and collaborative projects than ever. At the forefront of these opportunities are inter- and transdisciplinary research collaborations between clinician scientists and basic and translational scientists. But there are challenges. At the heart of all successful collaborations, no matter how large or small, attention to dynamics and cooperation between individuals is needed. Unfortunately, the skills needed to succeed in this area are not broadly taught in graduate schools or medical schools. In this chapter, the rationale for collaborations in scientific research is reviewed, and features of successful collaborations are discussed.