Interdisciplinary research teams are trending – and receiving substantial funding from government agencies and those interested in solving ‘big problems.’ As scientists work on things like climate change and global hunger, having a diverse group of experts can provide a broad platform of inquiry and expertise.
What make a collaborative team successful? A recent Inside Higher Ed article describes research by Harvard University Professor Michele Lamont which indicates that there are cognitive, emotional, and interactional benefits of team science. Researchers engaged in team science reported higher levels of creativity and feelings of “collective intellectual excitement.” Researchers also reported that learning from one another and developing meaningful social relationships were added benefits. The collaborative model helps create a space where researchers can “practically engage one another to work on a common problem.” With a team science approach, researchers benefit from a wide variety of expertise, which could one day help answer some of science’s most important questions.