Developing Your Career in an Age of Team Science

Abstract

Academic institutions and researchers are becoming increasingly involved in translational research to spur innovation in addressing many complex biomedical and societal problems and in response to the focus of the National Institutes of Health and other funders. One approach to translational research is to develop interdisciplinary research teams. By bringing together collaborators with diverse research backgrounds and perspectives, these teams seek to blend their science and the workings of the scientists to push beyond the limits of current research.

While team science promises individual and team benefits in creating and implementing innovations, its increased complexity poses challenges. In particular, because academic career advancement commonly focuses on individual achievement, team science might differentially impact early stage researchers. The need to be recognized for individual accomplishments to move forward in an academic career may give rise to research team conflicts. Raising awareness to career-related aspects of team science will help individuals (particularly trainees and junior faculty) take steps to align their excitement and participation with the success of both the team and their personal career advancement.

Keywords

career development team science interdisciplinary research translational research conflict management

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

NIH. Clinical and Translational Research Awards [NIH Web site] . 2011. Available at: https://commonfund.nih.gov/researchteams/; and http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-06-006.html. Accessed December 2, 2011.

NIH. The Bayh-Dole Act-Sponsor responsibilities [NIH Web site] . 2011. Available at: https://s-edison.info.nih.gov/iEdison/sponsored.jsp#responsibilities. Accessed December 2, 2011.

Committee on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research . Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2004. Available at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11153. Accessed December 2, 2011.

Bennett

, Gadlin

Collaboration and team science: from theory to practice. J Investig Med . 2012; 60: 768–775.

National Library of Medicine . Number of Authors per MEDLINE®/ PubMed®Citation [NLM Web site]. 2011. Available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/authors1.html. Accessed December 2, 2011.

Jensen

. Tooling up: myths about industry jobs [AAAS Science Careers Web site]. 2009. Available at: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2009_08_21/caredit.a0900102. Accessed December 2, 2011.

Sellers

, Caporaso

, Lapidus

, . Opportunities and barriers in the age of team science: strategies for success. Cancer Causes Control . 2006; 17: 229–237.

Rhoten

, Parker

Risks and rewards of an interdisciplinary research path. Science . 2004; 306: 2046.

Association of American Medical Colleges [AAMC Web site] . 2011. Available at: https://www.aamc.org/. Accessed December 2, 2011.

10.

American Association of University Professors [AAUP Web site] . 2011. Available at: http://www.aaup.org/aaup. Accessed December 2, 2011.

11.

Bunton

, Mallon

WT.

The continued evolution of faculty appointment and tenure policies at U. S. medical schools. Acad Med . 2007; 82: 281–289.

12.

Zucker DR.

Tools for productively managing conflict. J Investig Med . 2012; 60: 776–778.

13.

Pfirman

, Martin

, Berry

, . Interdisciplinary Hiring, Tenure and Promotion: Guidance for Individuals and Institutions. The Council of Environmental Deans and Directors of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) . 2007. Available at: http://www.uvm.edu/∼tri/pdf/NCSE-InterdisciplinaryHiring.pdf. Accessed December 2, 2011.

14.

Bennett

, Gadlin

, Levine-Finley

Collaboration & Team Science: A Field Guide . Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health. 2010. Available at: https://ccrod.cancer.gov/confluence/download/attachments/47284665/TeamScience_FieldGuide.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1271730182423. Accessed December 2, 2011.

15.

Janssen

, van de Vliert

, West

. The bright and dark sides of individual and group innovation. J Organiz Behav . 2004; 25: 129–145.

16.

Davies

, Langley

, Speert

DP.

Rating authors’ contributions to collaborative research: the PICNIC survey of university departments of pediatrics. CMAJ . 1996; 155: 877–882.

17.

Yank

, Rennie

Disclosure of researcher contributions: a study of original research articles in The Lancet. Ann Intern Med . 1999; 130: 661–670.

18.

Laflin

, Glover

, McDermott

RJ.

Publication ethics: an examination of authorship practices. Am J Health Behav . 2005; 29: 579–587.

19.

Kritek

PB.

Negotiating at an Uneven Table: A Practical Approach to Working With Difference and Diversity. San Francisco , CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers; 1994.

20.

AAMC Group on Graduate, Research Education and Training . Compact Between Postdoctoral Appointees and Their Mentors [AAMC Web site ]. 2006. Available at: https://www.aamc.org/download/49868/data/gradcompact.pdf.pdf. Accessed December 2, 2011.

21.

AAMC Group on Graduate Research, Education and Training . Compact Between Biomedical Graduate Students and Their Research Advisors [AAMC Web site ]. 2008. Available at: https://www.aamc.org/initiatives/gradcompact/. Accessed December 2, 2011.

22.

Bennett

, Gadlin

. Collaborative Agreement Template [NIH Collaboration and Team Science Web site]. 2011. Available at: https://ccrod.cancer.gov/confluence/display/NIHOMBUD/Collaborative+Agreement+Template. Accessed December 2, 2011.

23.

ennett

, Gadlin

. Tenure Track Offer Template [NIH Collaboration and Team Science Web site]. 2011. Available at: https://ccrod.cancer.gov/confluence/display/NIHOMBUD/Tenure+Track+Offer+Template. Accessed December 2, 2011.

24.

Board on Life Sciences and Division on Earth and Life Studies . Bridges to Independence: Fostering the Independence of New Investigators in Biomedical Research . Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2005. Available at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11249#orgs. Accessed December 2, 2011.

25.

Office of Intermural Training . NIH Postdoc Handbook [NIH Web site]. Available at: http://history.nih.gov/research/downloads/stetten_fellow_handbook.pdf. Accessed December 2, 2011.

26.

National Postdoctoral Association [NPA Web site] . 2011. Available at: http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/. Accessed December 2, 2011.

27.

Austin

. Interdisciplinarity and Tenure [AAAS-Science Careers Web site]. 2003. Available at: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/2100/interdisciplinarity_and_tenure/. Accessed December 2, 2011.

28.

NIH. New and Early Stage Investigator Policies [NIH Web site] . 2011. Available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/. Accessed December 2, 2011.

29.

Harris

, DaRosa

, Liu

, . Facilitating academic institutional change: redefining scholarship. Fam Med . 2003; 35: 187–194.

30.

Boyer

EL.

Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professorate . Lawrenceville, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1990. Available at: http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED326149.pdf. Accessed December 2, 2011.

31.

Pfirman

, Collins

, Lowes

, . To Thrive and Prosper: Hiring, Supporting, and Tenuring Interdisciplinary Scholars [Project Kalidoscope Web site] . 2005. Available at: http://www.pkal.org/documents/Pfirman_et-al_To-thrive-and-prosper.pdf. Accessed December 30, 2011.

32.

NIH. Multi-PI grant mechanisms [NIH Web site] . 2011. Available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/multi_pi/overview.htm. Accessed December 2, 2011.

33.

Stokols

, Misra

, Moser

, . The ecology of team science: understanding contextual influences on transdisciplinary collaboration. Am J Prev Med . 2008; 35: S96–S115.

34.

Burroughs Wellcome Fund and Howard Hughes Medical Institute [HHMI Web site] . Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty. 2nd ed.2006. Available at: http://www.hhmi.org/resources/labmanagement/mtrmoves_download.html. Accessed December 2, 2011.

35.

National Institutes of Health [NIH Web site] . The Team Science Toolkit . 2011. Available at: http://www.teamsciencetoolkit.cancer.gov/public/Home.aspx. Accessed December 2, 2011.

36.

Carr

, Pololi

, Knight

, . Collaboration in academic medicine: reflections on gender and advancement. Acad Med . 2009; 84: 1447–1453.

37.

Rhoten

, Pfirman

. Women, Science and Interdisciplinary Ways of Working [Inside Higher Ed] . 2007. Available at: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2007/10/22/rhoten. Accessed December 2, 2011.

38.

Simpson

. Hints for obtaining tenure [Burroughs Wellcome Fund Web site]. 2010. Available at: http://www.bwfund.org/page.php?mode=privateview&pageID=255. Accessed December 2, 2011.

39.

Buchanan

GR.

Academic promotion and tenure: a user's guide for junior faculty members. Hematology Am Soc Hematol Educ Program . 2009; 1: 736–741.

40.

Curtin

. Works Well with Others [Genome Technology Web site] 2008. Available at: http://www.genomeweb.com/works-well-others. Accessed December 2, 2011.

41.

Levine

. Making the Leap to Independence [AAAS Science Careers Web site]. 2007. Available at: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/2007_03_02/caredit_a0700029. Accessed December 2, 2011.

42.

Blitzer-Field

, Shaw

, . Shaping a career in academic medicine: guidelines for mentor/mentee conversations [University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Web site] . 2007. Available at: http://www.med.upenn.edu/mentee/index.shtml; and http://www.med.upenn.edu/mentee/documents/mentor_guide.pdf. Accessed December 2, 2011.

43.

Pfirman

, Balsam

, Bell

, . Maximizing Productivity and Recognition, Part 1: Publication, Citation, and Impact [AAAS Science Careers Web site] . 2007. Available at: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2007_11_02/caredit.a0700155. Accessed December 2, 2011.

44.

Pfirman

, Balsam

, Bell

, . Maximizing Productivity and Recognition, Part 2: Collaboration and Networking [AAAS Science Careers Web site] . 2008. Available at: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2008_02_01/caredit.a0800016. Accessed December 2, 2011.

45.

Pfirman

, Bell

, Culligan

, . Maximizing Productivity and Recognition, Part 3: Developing a Research Plan [AAAS-Science Careers Web site] . 2008. Available at: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2008_10_10/caredit.a0800148. Accessed December 2, 2011.

46.

Burrell

. Collaboration Toolbox: Conflict Management: Conflict Styles: The Five Conflict Styles [MIT Web site] . 2001. Available at: http://web.mit.edu/collaboration/mainsite/modules/module1/1.11.5.html. Accessed December 2, 2011.

47.

Schaubhut

. Technical Brief for the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument [CCP Web site—sole distributor of TKI]. 2007. Available at: https://www.cpp.com/pdfs/TKI_Technical_Brief.pdf. Accessed December 2, 2011.

48.

Jehn

, Northcraft

, Neale

MA.

Why differences make a difference: a field study of diversity, conflict, and performance in workgroups. Admin Sci Q . 1999; 44: 741–763.

49.

University of Pittsburgh . Survival Skills and Ethics Program [University of Pittsburgh Web site]. 2011. Available at: http://www.survival.pitt.edu/. Accessed December 2, 2011.

50.

Fisher

, Ury

, Patton

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. Revised Edition. New York, NY: Penguin Group; 2011.

51.

Rhoten

. Final Report: A Multi-method Analysis of the Social and Technical Conditions for Interdisciplinary Collaboration [The Hybrid Vigor Institute Web site]. 2003. Available at: http://hybridvigor.net/interdis/pubs/hv_pub_interdis-2003.09.29.pdf. Accessed December 2, 2011.

52.

Grigsby

RK.

Five Potential Pitfalls for Junior Faculty at Academic Health. Available at: https://www.aamc.org/download/164736/data/grigsby_five_potential_pitfalls_for_junior_faculty_at_ahcs.pdf. Accessed February 10, 2012.

53.

Wolf

Clinical research career development: the individual perspective. Acad Med. 2002; 77 (11): 1084–1088.