Partners in science: intercollegiate collaboration in Utah is good for everyone.

• Author: Andra, Jacob
• Position: Technology

Universities, like corporations, exist in a competitive dynamic with one another. They compete for funds, for prestige and for top-tier students. Example: for one university to climb in relative status--those all-important ranking lists--others must decline. For one institution to land a coveted National Science Foundation grant, others go away empty-handed. Yet, amid such zero-sum dynamics, universities find plenty of reasons to collaborate with one another.

"Interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaborations are critical," says Ivy Estabrooke, who directs the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) program. "Bringing different perspectives and ideas together is critical in science." Estabrooke contrasts "incremental research"--the sort of stepwise research progress characteristic of most uni- disciplinary research labs around the world--with "true innovation," which she describes as breakthrough developments that bring about nearly immediate change.

COLLABORATION, INTER AND INTRA

Even within a given university, departmental alliances are key for such innovation to occur. Indeed, entire degrees, as well as departments, are emerging with multidisciplinary collaboration at their core. Take, for example, the University of Utah's new Multi-Disciplinary Design Program, which engages "Design, Engineering, Business, Psychology and Communications around the common framework of product design," per the program's website. Such alliances tend to mitigate the rivalries endemic between various departments and disciplines--do the humanities still matter? Does math or engineering contribute more to the organization's prestige?--and generate positive-sum (i.e., win-win) opportunities for shared recognition, joint funding and group contribution.

Inter-university collaboration scales the same team dynamic up for even more potential. "No university can cover all expertise in a domain," says Mark McLellan, vice president for research at Utah State University. "So you go hunting."

McLellan points out that faculty actually have significant incentive to seek out research partners at other institutions when their own university lacks the right specialist. "First and foremost, you can get funding that otherwise wouldn't be available," by compiling a well-rounded team that matches a given grant's specifications. Second, a research professor "can attract the very best grad students" by participating in revolutionary projects of large scope. And, finally...