1. Culture of Collaboration: Strategies to Capitalize on
Existing Strengths and Developing Synergies
Sandra L. Justice, BA, USF CRA-Advanced, University of South Florida, College of Arts and Sciences
Erin Bhagvat, MBA, USF CRA-Advanced, University of South Florida, College of Medicine
Background and Purpose
Funding sponsors are driving
this change – moving away
from the silos of discipline
toward
holistic research.
To be competitive,
project teams need to adapt the
larger / broader project scope.
Team grants, interdisciplinary
research and collaborative
projects is the trend for strategic
funding.
Changing funding climate drives
collaboration
Methods: Identify Areas of Shared
Strength & Synergy
.
The Expectation
Establishing a culture of collaboration is not
intuitive, natural or easy. To exceed expectations
of hemispheric scope, researchers need to broaden
the expertise of their project team for holistic,
blended, results with reach and impact.
Why do we need a culture of
collaboration? To address the big
(hemispheric) questions, a truly
integrated, comprehensive scope, we
need the promise of interdisciplinary
research.
Addressing the Barriers
Identified Barriers of Interdisciplinary Collaboration
1. Does your institution tie research productivity to metrics
for tenure? The biggest barrier @ USF is giving credit
to faculty who are not the PI or lead author.
2. Interdisciplinary research is generally much more time
and energy – invest in faculty incentives and dedicated
staff support to offset the additional effort.
3. Establishing shared space is key. Tearing down walls,
literally and figuratively.
4. Investing in multi-disciplinary faculty hires, shared
equipment, and seed funding.
The six-step method used to establish the areas of inter-
disciplinary strength and propel synergistic activity of the
Interdisciplinary Research Clusters:
1. Joint effort across the departments (buy-in)
2. Analysis of grants and publications (data mine)
3. Strategy Development (strategic planning)
4. Governance (credible foundation)
5. Implementation (energize around grants)
6. Maintain momentum!
USF School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Interdisciplinary Research (IR) Clusters
Strategic Cluster Faculty Hiring
Vision for Large, Complex grants
Group effort for research, scholarship
Vision for interdisciplinary curriculum
Teamwork makes the dream work:
Collaborative Research Support
Majority of the investments in interdisciplinary research
has been in infrastructure, seed grant programs and
shared space. https://www.research.usf.edu/train/
University strength,
ranking, and
reputation
Impact recruiting,
world class faculty and
the top graduate
students.
Department
Research
Profile
College Areas
of Research
Promise
University
Signature
Research Area
Collaborative Initiatives @ USF
Florida Center for Excellence, Center for Drug Discovery &
Innovation http://www.usf.edu/research-innovation/cddi/
Building expertise for research staff is the important first step.
USF TRAIN® The Research Administrators Improvement Network
provides certificates in USF-specific research administration. In
2015, TRAIN inducted 125 in the USF Academy of Certified
Research Administrators.
Neuroscience Collaborative http://health.usf.edu/usfnsc/index.htm
Digital Humanities @ USF http://www.lib.usf.edu/dh/
STEAM (STEM + Arts) http://cas.usf.edu/research/form/steam.aspx
USF Natural Hazards Network http://www.cas.usf.edu/hazards/
Strategies for Maintaining Momentum
Moving from multi-disciplinary to inter-disciplinary
means integrated work evidenced in small ‘proof of
concept’ projects that leads to co-published articles.
o Workshops around funding themes and sponsor programs
o Network Events and Think Tank meetings
o Robust, engaged and current website
o A ‘community’ journal tackling the ‘big questions’, voicing the
hurdles from multiple perspectives.
See the journal called Numeracy by Len Vacher
http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/numeracy/
Department
Research Profile
Identify shared
faculty strength
demonstrated in
grants, pedagogy
and scholarship.
College areas of
strength & promise
Building a global
reputation, and
expanding knowledge
through scholarly
excellence.
There is a changing landscape for scientists and
scholars. The institutions of tomorrow will be
more integrated and highly collaborative.
USF Forensics Institute http://forensics.usf.edu/
USF SMMARTT Materials http://chemistry.usf.edu/smmartt/
References
Simon Frazier University (2008). Removing barriers: A design for the future of SFU.
Vol III:Interdisciplinary. http://www.sfu.ca/vpacademic/files/VolIVFinalReport.pdf
University of Wisconsin-Madison (2008). Report of the cluster/interdisciplinary
advisory committee to evaluate the cluster hiring initiative.
http://www.washington.edu/tfee/final96.txt
E. Derrick, H. Falk-Krzesiski, M. Roberts, editors. Steve Olson, Technical Writer.
(2011) Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research & Education (FIRE)