Biophysical Society Bulletin | September 2025

Career Development

Cultivating Collaborations With rapidly growing technical innovation and specialization, scientific inquiry now adays increasingly depends on expertise drawn from multiple approaches. How ever, it is likely that an investigator with expertise in molecular dynamics simu lations will not have at hand the tools of live-cell confocal imaging, and vice versa. How do investigators keep up with the overwhelming proliferation of necessary approaches without having to start at square one for each? The “secret sauce” rests in the synergy afforded by successful collab oration. Think about the most engaging presentations you’ve attended. Most, if not all, acknowledge collaborators, each contributing crit ically in pulling the final story together. Yet how do these mutually beneficial relationships even come to be? Once formed, how are they sustained? For both, a key—if not the key—element is good communication. Many collaborations grow naturally out of relationships cultivated during graduate and postdoctoral training. If you currently are fortunate enough to work in a laboratory that studies a range of distinct questions by using a broad spectrum of technical ap proaches, great! It is likely that each entails different approaches and is done primarily by a different colleague. So, take the time to learn what makes each of your labmates tick. If you train in a smaller lab, a similar approach can be taken within a department or academic unit. In addition to understanding the motivation behind studying a particular question, observe what fuels the day-to-day tasks upon which your colleagues’ projects are built. Why are they drawn to their research questions and how do they meet the challenges of tackling those questions? On the other side of the equation, it is critical to share your perspectives and amassed skills generously whenever they are sought. Aim to give as well as take. In fact, these seemingly mundane interactions reflect privi leged access to your colleagues’ talents—the ultimate resource. It is rare that one can acquire and cultivate such relationships while working in a vacuum. What you essentially are doing is learning how to think together, while at the same time building a shared history. It is important not to expect the same immediate returns from interactions with every lab (or departmental) colleague. More often than not, many will remain enigmatic. However, they might be forming mental dossiers of you as well. Through what you of fer during these interactions, you too are cultivating a reputation

that may serve you well down the long road ahead. You lay the foundations of networking, a prerequisite for collaboration. Complementary—but distinct—scientific goals are an important hallmark of synergistic collaborations. Each team member brings something to the table. Bear this in mind as you progress in your independent investigations and develop collaborative projects. Take full advantage of the communication that conference atten dance affords. Even if you did not train in the idealized research environment described up to this point, attending conferences, large and small, offers opportunity to cultivate collaboration. It is likely that you will meet former colleagues at conferences. You can always contact them beforehand, and if they will be attending, arrange a group reunion. They might be working on entirely different topics, but they will remember the overall experience of working with you during your shared past. In other words, they already know how well you think interactively with others. Be forthcoming as you fill them in on what your current projects entail, especially if there are gaps in knowledge and tech nical expertise that require collaborative work. It is quite possible that even if the particular colleague does not fit the bill, they know someone who does. Occasionally, they might be quite happy to match-make. Perhaps that potential collaborator is even attend ing the same conference, and introductions can be made readily. Like all joint ventures, collaborations require focused effort. Once a collaboration is established, the message is to communicate, communicate, and communicate! From the start, identify expec tations, establish regular meetings to discuss work in progress, and identify key literature to review in a journal club setting. These steps collectively support cultivation of the hive mind and, moreover, steer project direction. It is important as well to estab lish essential benchmarks to be met for drafting a manuscript or proposal, criteria for authorship, etc., to set collaborations off on the right foot. Most of us now appreciate that video confer encing platforms offer a good option for face-to-face meetings for routine project status updates. Even so, they are not the best substitute for team bonding. If team members are not located in the same institution and have limited opportunities to meet in person, prioritize attending at least one common scientific confer ence each year, not just to recap project status in real time and space, but also to strengthen team bonds. When developed with open communication, collaborative projects offer manifold professional and personal rewards beyond the expected generation of new knowledge. Through teamwork, collaborations bring with them the sense of accomplishment that comes with contributing to discoveries and knowledge that far exceeds the sum of its parts. And remember to have fun working and thinking together! — Molly Cule

September 2025

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