Big team science

In Week 3, you were introduced to ‘big team science’ – large-scale projects where researchers from around the world conduct the same study and pool their results. As well as having benefits for sample size and the ability to investigate generalisability of findings, big team science also has the potential to increase diversity, equity and inclusivity in research.

Here are some examples of big team science projects. If you wish to follow the links and explore them in greater depth, remember to open them in a new tab or window (right mouse click or long press), so you can easily return to this page:

• The Human Genome Project [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] aimed to map and understand all the genes of the human species, and in 2003 successfully identified the approximately twenty to twenty-five thousand genes in human DNA. The magnitude of this challenge brought together expertise of interdisciplinary groups from across the world, including experts in engineering, biology, computer science, and so on.
• CERN and the Large Hadron Collider aimed to explore fundamental questions about the universe, and in 2012, discovered the Higgs boson, confirming a key part of the Standard Model of particle physics. The project required the perspectives of over twelve thousand scientists, from more than one hundred nationalities. They collaborated in a culture where decisions were made through intense discussions about the scientific merits of rival proposals, rather than hierarchy.
• The project ManyPrimates aims to study primate cognition and behaviour through large-scale, collaborative experiments across multiple primate research facilities. The study includes a systematic review, to challenge the idea that knowledge can be effectively generated by looking at a limited number of primate species at a few sites. The initial projects have focused on understanding the cognitive abilities of different primate species.

  

You can get involved in big team science either by joining an existing organisation or by starting a project yourself! If there is an existing big team science initiative in your field that is open to new members, this can be a good starting point. For example, the Psychological Science Accelerator brings psychology researchers together to pool resources for large global studies in psychology. Anyone can join an existing project in various roles, depending on their knowledge and experience including data collection and translation. Anyone can also propose their own project during open ‘calls for studies’.

Although the term ‘big team science’ implies the research is scientific, there is no reason why some of the principles behind big team science can’t be applied to non-scientific research. There are inspiring collaborative projects in the humanities, too:

• Religious Peace and Toleration (RETOPEA) is an international community of researchers who develop educational tools and recommendations to promote peaceful understanding between young people of different religions, spiritualities and worldviews.
• The Pelagios Network, which you looked at in Week 1, is a community of researchers, data scientists and curators who use linked data methods and tools to investigate the past.