Enabling Interdisciplinary and Team Science
This workshop was made possible thanks to support from the Institute for Translational Medicine, a partnership between the University of Chicago and Rush in collaboration with Advocate Health Care, the Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), Loyola University Chicago, and NorthShore University HealthSystem.
Team science is increasingly common in the 21st century to develop convergent solutions to complex problems. Collaboration is no longer limited to sharing ideas with the biologist in the lab next door. The questions confronting science often require teams that may include a mix of computer and information scientists, physical and social scientists, mathematicians, ethicists, policy and management experts, as well as community stakeholders and citizen scientists. Adding to this complexity, teams span programs within organizations, cross organization boundaries to form institutional consortia, and often include international partners.
The American Institute of Biological Sciences has responded to this call with a program for scientists, educators, and individuals who work with or participate in scientific teams. Nothing teaches collaboration like practicing collaboration. This is not a course that asks you to learn in isolation. It is a microcosm of scientific collaboration, with extensive hands-on learning as part of a scientific team, with scientific case studies and examples. The workshop was developed with input from scientists and experts on collaboration and teamwork to provide participants with the knowledge and skills required to become productive and effective members of scientific teams. Tools, resources, small group exercises, case studies and other instruction are built around topics including communication, conflict resolution, developing a team roadmap, and identifying and managing team competencies.
Session dates: June 15th, 17th, 22nd, & 24th; 12:30 – 4 PM CDT
Course capacity: 30
Course fee: $10
Participants will develop and hone the skills needed to:
- Explain interdisciplinary team science and characteristics of effective scientific teams
- Describe how teams work
- Improve team communication and trust
- Resolve individual and team conflicts
- Recognize competencies and characteristics of effective team leadership
- Create effective teams and team culture
- Develop a shared vision, mission, plan, and key performance indicators for a scientific team
- Identify and assess the right mix of competencies and people needed for a scientific team
- Use team tools and processes such as quality improvement cycle and knowledge mapping
Who should attend?
- Research program/lab directors
- Scientists and faculty engaged in collaborative projects
- Researchers and faculty working at the interface of different fields and/or scientific approaches
- Graduate students and postdocs looking to augment research planning and communication skills
- Groups interested in planning successful research proposals and interdisciplinary research teams
- Academic, government, and industry scientists
Workshop Instructors
M. Kathleen Joyce
President, M. Kathleen Joyce & Associates
Kathy Joyce has worked to develop teams for more than twenty-five years. For the past twenty years, she has consulted with teams in the public, private, non-profit, and university sectors, focusing largely on science, health, and biomedicine. Early in her career, she directed training for teamwork and leadership development for a pilot project involving 1,600 personnel for the U.S. Government Accountability Office. She was trained in team leadership and facilitation by Florida Power & Light, the first U.S. company to win the prestigious Deming Prize, a global quality award.
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) scientific association dedicated to advancing the biological sciences to promote increased understanding of all life. AIBS was formed with a vision of bringing together the organizations and individuals that advance the biological sciences to work together on matters best addressed through united
action. Founded in 1947 as a part of the National Academy of Sciences, AIBS became an independent, member-governed organization in the 1950s. Today, AIBS has more than 110 member organizations and is headquartered in Herndon, VA. Staff members work to achieve its mission by publishing the peer-reviewed journal BioScience, by providing scientific peer review and advisory services to a variety of clients; and by collaborating with scientific organizations to advance public policy, education, and the public understanding of science. AIBS continues to adapt its programs to the rapid social, technological, and economic changes that are influencing the practice of the life sciences.