What is team science?

Team Science is a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to scientific inquiry where individuals across different disciplines work together in ways that leverage their diverse expertise.
Bennett, Gadlin & Levine-Finley (2010)

What is a team?

A team consists of members with different sets of skills and knowledge who come together to work on a research problem. The size of a team typically ranges from 4 to 12 members, but the specific number depends on contextual factors like the overall goals of the team.
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (2006)

Teams are the most effective mechanism to translate discoveries made in the laboratories into tangible improvements in human health at the clinical level. Diverse research teams enhance and accelerate the success of innovation and discovery by creating new combinations of existing knowledge.
Disis & Slattery (2010)

Why is interdisciplinary important?

The most pressing scientific issues of recent times — such as the obesity epidemic or the rise in chronic diseases — have often been multi-factorial in nature. The traditional single-investigator model has become increasingly unsuitable as the true complexity of these issues have become more apparent, and interdisciplinary methods have become essential to effectively address these problems.
Disis & Slattery (2010)

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Citations

Disis M, Slattery J. The road we must take: multidisciplinary team science. Sci Trans Med. 2010; 2(22).
L. Michelle Bennett, Howard Gadlin, and Samantha Levine-Finley, Collaboration & Team Science: A Field Guide, National Institutes of Health, 2010.
"Is Your Team Too Big? Too Small? What's the right Number?" Knowledge@Wharton. The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 14 June, 2006, Web.