Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Feb;65(2):382-390.
doi: 10.1136/jim-2016-000261. Epub 2016 Nov 2.

Scientific retreats with 'speed dating': networking to stimulate new interdisciplinary translational research collaborations and team science

Damayanthi Ranwala  1 , Anthony J Alberg  2 , Kathleen T Brady  1 , Jihad S Obeid  3 , Randal Davis  4 , Perry V Halushka  5   6
Affiliations

Scientific retreats with 'speed dating': networking to stimulate new interdisciplinary translational research collaborations and team science

Damayanthi Ranwala et al. J Investig Med. 2017 Feb.

Abstract

To stimulate the formation of new interdisciplinary translational research teams and innovative pilot projects, the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research (SCTR) Institute (South Carolina Clinical and Translational Science Award, CTSA) initiated biannual scientific retreats with 'speed dating' networking sessions. Retreat themes were prioritized based on the following criteria; cross-cutting topic, unmet medical need, generation of novel technologies and methodologies. Each retreat begins with an external keynote speaker followed by a series of brief research presentations by local researchers focused on the retreat theme, articulating potential areas for new collaborations. After each session of presentations, there is a 30 min scientific 'speed dating' period during which the presenters meet with interested attendees to exchange ideas and discuss collaborations. Retreat attendees are eligible to compete for pilot project funds on the topic of the retreat theme. The 10 retreats held have had a total of 1004 participants, resulted in 61 pilot projects with new interdisciplinary teams, and 14 funded projects. The retreat format has been a successful mechanism to stimulate novel interdisciplinary research teams and innovative translational research projects. Future retreats will continue to target topics of cross-cutting importance to biomedical and public health research.

Keywords: Interdisciplinary Studies; Translational Medical Research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representation of the scientific retreat attendees.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Evaluation form used in the Tobacco Control retreat
Figure 2
Figure 2
Evaluation form used in the Tobacco Control retreat
Figure 3
Figure 3
Network analysis performed on 44 SCTR Institute pilot project program funded individuals with 140 publications that cited the SCTR Institute grant number and a randomly selected matching cohort (control group) of 44 individuals with 145 publications citing other non-SCTR Institute funding. The pilot project program funded individuals had significantly higher degree centrality with an average of 3.16 unique co-authors per individual vs. 1.23 in the control group. Colors randomly represent different clusters.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Andreasen NC, et al. Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2004.
    1. Bennett LM, Gadlin H, Levine-Finley S. Collaboration & Team Science: A Field Guide. NIH Office of the Ombudsman; 2010.
    1. Bartek RJ, et al. NCATS Advisory Council Working Group on the IOM Report: The CTSA Program at NIH. 2014.
    1. Porter Al, Youtie J. How interdisciplinary is nanotechnology? J Nanopart Res. 2009;11(5):1023–1041. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cummings JN, Kiesler S. Who collaborates successfully?. Prior experience reduces collaboration barriers in distributed interdisciplinary research; Proceedings of the ACM conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work; 2008; San Diego, CA.