At lunch with one of the PI’s today, the topic came up of why there isn’t more communication between folks who do their work, or have their offices on different floors. It’s actually very interesting because the topic also came up fairly recently in quite a different context where several of us were discussing the design for the new Society for Neuroscience offices downtown–same deal, how to get around the obstacle of different floors acting to discourage collaborations.
Along these lines, another PI recently suggested the notion of more talk, journal clubs, a question of the month and brown bag lunches all as ways to address this issue. While I think those are good ideas, I also think that there needs to be something more.
Fundamentally, we are talking about climbing or descending the stairs (or taking the elevator) as a barrier. Ultimately individuals expend energy to get over barriers because, in doing so, they achieve something of value to themselves–although in many cases I hope we indentify beyond our individual selves and in doing so avoid the so called tragedy of the commons (for a good explanation see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons). The value added for the Institute of course is increased collaborative activity in addition to a greater sense of community. But I recognize that the value added for the individual may be a bit vague and consequently take a lower priority against the other priorities that make up a scientific life.
So the question is how to bump it up the priority scale. I’m not sure, but I’ve finally come to the realization that this is a necessary thing to do. And I’d welcome your input.
Discoverers and Discoveries 