poptech - collaboration
DESCRIPTION
Collaboration Presentation made at Poptech 2011 in Washington DC August 5, 2011TRANSCRIPT
What is Collaboration?
• To me it is one of those nebulous things, like “reputation” and “scholarly output” that are important to a scientific career but hard to define
• What follows are a few somewhat random thoughts and experiences around collaboration that we can use to seed a discussion
PopTech Aug 5, 2011 2
There Are the Official Definitions…
collaboration (kəˌlæbəˌreɪʃən)
— n (often foll by on, with, etc )
1.the act of working with another or others on a joint project
2. something created by working jointly with another or others
From the World English DictionaryPopTech Aug 5, 2011 3
Then There is This Definition …
collaboration
From 1860, noun of action from collaborate
In a bad sense, "tratorious cooperation with an occupying enemy," it is recorded from 1940; earliest references are to the Vichy Government of France.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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I Like These Definitions Since They Express Both the Positive and
Negative Aspects of Collaboration Which We Will Explore a Bit..
PopTech Aug 5, 2011 5
The Mechanics: Ten Simple Rules for a Successful Collaboration
1. Select collaborations carefully
2. Set the ground rules before you start
3. Do what you said you would do
4. Be open and honest
5. Feel respect; get respect
6. Communicate, communicate, communicate
7. Protect yourself from souring
8. Always acknowledge and cite collaborators
9. Seek advice from those more experienced
10. Keep a good thing going
Vicens & Bourne PLoS Comp Biol 2007 3(3) e44 PopTech Aug 5, 2011 6
The Mechanics Are Important, but Somewhat Self Evident
Can Collaboration Take Us from Being Good to Great?
The Average Scientist Would Seem to Think So Based on the Trends
PopTech Aug 5, 2011 7
What Are the Global Trends Towards Collaboration?
Source www.vadlo.com
Source Lars Jensen
# active authors doubles every 17 years # papers doubles every 22 years
# of co-authors per paper doubles every 33 years# papers co-authored doubles every 63 years
PopTech Aug 5, 2011 8
What Are the Individual Trends Towards Collaboration?
Gerwick
Source: http://pubnet.gersteinlab.org/
• Both UC Professors IX• Approximate same number of papers, H-index• Different topologies Bourne
• Gerwick more nodes (collaborators)• Both predominant edges; Bourne some thicker edges• Bourne “tripartite” authoring strong
PopTech Aug 5, 2011 9
Trends: Erdős Number
• My number is 3 – True or False?
Source: Microsoft Academic Searchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erdős_number
False:Pictures do not match people I know
PopTech Aug 5, 2011 10
Trends: Lets Not Blame Microsoft –Others Are Not Better
http://www.researcherid.com/
http://www.biomedexperts.comhttp://www.scholar.google.com
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Thoughts Thus Far?
• We are increasingly obsessed with measuring ourselves?
• Why? Advancement has come to demand it
• We rely on qualitative metrics to measure a quantitative activity
• Collaboration is at this time an implicit part of the metrics we use – will it ever become explicit?
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Towards Quantification
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A Unique Identifier is Going to Happen
• It is DOIs for people
• Some scientists will resist
• The winner is ORCID?
I an Not a Scientist I am a NumberPLoS Comp. Biol. 2008 4(12) e1000247PopTech Aug 5, 2011 14
With All Aspects of Our Scholarship Identified Opportunities for Collaboration Are Broadened
I an Not a Scientist I am a NumberPLoS Comp. Biol. 2008 4(12) e1000247
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With More Aspects of Scholarship Being Tagged, Collaborations Can Start in More Ways both Manual
and Automated
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Ways Collaborations Start / Might Start
• Proximity• Read my papers• Conferences• Known expertise• Shared infrastructure• Third party – students in particular• Shared ideas• Shared data• Shared protocols (including software)• ePosters• Other shared research objects
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eScience Facilitates Collaboration at all Stages of the Research Enterprise
Scientist
Idea
Experiment
Data
Conclusions
Publish 18PopTech Aug 5, 2011
Consider a Couple of Examples
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The Protein Data Bank – Amazon Model
• We know usage trends
• If you looked at these two structures most likely you are interested in this one…
• We don’t do this right now
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The Protein Data Bank
• We allow structural annotations but we do not invite collaboration around these data objects
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There Are Other Types of Research Objects Through Which Providers
Can Enable Collaboration
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Products
ApplicationProduct Primary Customers
Journals PubCast Journals, publishers, societies
Meetings PosterCast Societies, conference orgs.SlideCast
Comm. PaperCast Societies, journalsPodcastSlideCast
Education PosterCast Societies, universitiesSlideCast
Books BookCast Publishers, book sellers
Posters, Slides, Journal Clubs
PopTech Aug 5, 2011 23
Findings From Our Own Experiences
• Collaboration is occurring within a community but not across communities
• Will only happen if there is a recognizable reward
• The tools to foster collaboration are not yet good enough but are evolving
• Today serendipitous discovery does not happen across the literature let alone across other research objects
PopTech Aug 5, 2011 24
Tools Start with Research Object Management and Accessibility
Taverna
PopTech Aug 5, 2011 25
Changes in Why and How We Collaborate Will Depend Very Much
on the Elephant in the Room
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"tratorious cooperation with an occupying enemy”
• R01 grants were cut $300,000,000 for FY2008 despite a budget $1.5 billion higher than in FY2004
• In the post-doubling era (FY2003-2008) the NIH budget increased by $2.8 billion, and only 3% of that increase was allocated to the R01 program
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"tratorious cooperation with an occupying enemy"
• On the other hand ….
• Glue grants seem to be going out of favor
• CaBIG is a thing of the past
• Go figure!
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Can Collaboration Take Us From Being Good To Great?
• Yes - if we work with people smarter than us
• Yes – if done judiciously
• Yes – if we are all part of maximizing the use of our own research objects
• Yes - if we learn to effectively utilize the increasing number of collaborative tools
• Yes – if we use the right funding opportunities and the funding bodies are smart
PopTech Aug 5, 2011 29