Structured efforts to build collaboration-encouraging centers cannot overcome fundamental problems in scientific communication.
These centers should focus on new scientist-to-scientist communication techniques before designing formal programs, says David Rubenson.
Multi-disciplinary, trans-disciplinary, translational, team science. These are the buzzwords for a consensus that transformative science requires collaboration among diverse disciplines. With scientists locked into narrow sub-disciplines, universities are dedicating enormous resources for top-down multi-disciplinary “programs,” “centers,” and “institutes” that attract diverse researchers, with the aim of encouraging more multidisciplinary collaboration.
