About the Book
In recent years the organisation and practice of collaboration in the life sciences has undergone radical transformations, owing to the advent of big science enterprises, newly developed data gathering and storage technologies, increasing levels of interdisciplinarity, and changing societal expectations for science. Collaboration in the New Life Sciences examines the causes and consequences of changing patterns of scientific collaboration in the life sciences.
This book presents an understanding of how and why collaboration in the life sciences is changing and the effects of these changes on scientific knowledge, the work lives and experiences of scientists, social policy and society. Through a series of thematically arranged chapters, it considers the social, technical, and organizational facets of collaboration, addressing not only the rise of new forms of collaboration in the life sciences, but also examining recent developments in two broad research areas: ecology and environment, and the molecular life sciences.
With an international team of experts presenting case studies and analyses drawn from the US, UK, Asia and Europe, Collaboration in the New Life Sciences will appeal not only to scholars and students of science and technology studies, but also to those interested in science and social policy, and the sociology of work and organisations.
Table of Contents:
Contents: Foreword, Edward J. Hackett; Part I Collaboration Arises: Collecting collaborations: understanding life together, Niki Vermeulen and Bart Penders; Organising the field: collaboration in the history of ecology and environmental science, Stephen Bocking; Multidisciplinary collaborations in toxicology and paleo-ecology: equal means to different ends, Laurens K. Hessels, Stefan de Jong and Harro van Lente. Part II Collaboration in Ecology and the Environment: Two approaches to big science: an analysis of LTER and NEON, Ann Zimmerman and Bonnie A. Nardi; Integrating the social into the ecological: organisational and research group challenges, John N. Parker; Infrastructuring ecology: challenges in achieving data sharing, Karen S. Baker and Florence Millerand; Customisation of transdisciplinary collaboration in the integrated management of contaminated sites, Vivien Behrens and Mattias Gross; A data bias in interdisciplinary cooperation in the sciences: ecology in climate change research, Chunglin Kwa and René Rector. Part III Collaboration in the Molecular Life Sciences: Matchmaking mechanisms: collaborative arrangements in proteomics and bioinformatics, Jamie Lewis; Systems biology, interdisciplinarity and disciplinary identity, Jane Calvert; The rice sequence collaborations: globalisation, innovation networks and the burgeoning life sciences in Asia, Lyndal Halliday. Part IV Collaboration in the New Life Sciences Revisited: Collaborationism, Wesley Shrum; Index.
About the Author :
Bart Penders is an assistant professor in Biomedine and Society in the Department of Health, Ethics and Society at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. He is co-editor of Collaboration Across Health Research and Medical Care. Niki Vermeulen is Lecturer in the History and Sociology of Science at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and co-editor of Collaboration Across Health Research and Medical Care and Bio-Objects: Life in the 21st Century. John N. Parker is an Honors Faculty Fellow at Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University. He is co-editor of Collaboration Across Health Research and Medical Care. Edward J. Hackett, Niki Vermeulen, Bart Penders, Stephen Bocking, Laurens K. Hessels, Stefan de Jong, Harro van Lente, Ann Zimmerman, Bonnie A. Nardi, John N. Parker, Karen S. Baker, Florence Millerand, Vivien Behrens, Mattias Gross, Chunglin Kwa, Rene Rector, Jamie Lewis, Jane Calvert, Lyndal Halliday, Wesley Shrum.
Review :
'A fascinating selection of in-depth studies: varied forms of collaboration make for new "big science", and the new life sciences call for new forms of collaboration. This volume combines scholarly originality and insight with relevance for policy makers and the public.' Wiebe E. Bijker, Maastricht University, The Netherlands 'Collaboration in the New Life Sciences could hardly be timelier. Just at the time that researchers have begun to create new collaborative media and dynamics comes this excellent volume, lifting the curtain, and showing us a good measure of the wizardry. The chapters are diverse, are well and richly grounded in emergent theory from Science and Technology Studies and, at the same time, show intimate familiarity with the scientific content that is their focus. Readable and accessible, this book will inform both the social theorist seeking meaning from new collaborative forms, as well as life scientists wishing to reflect more deeply on work routines and their social meaning.' Barry Bozeman, University of Georgia, USA 'The publication of this book, is certainly timely, and the case-studies which it provides on collaborative practices from Asia, Europe and the USA, give insights into scientific practices in these countries. In many ways, the style of writing throughout this book seems to convey that the authors reflected deeply on the socially constructed elements of 'received wisdom' which prevail in science and policy-making. The book would have some appeal, not only to ecologists and social scientists who are interested in knowledge production. Some practical advice is given on how collaboration works in practice, which could have relevance to scientists in other disciplines and for policy-making. ... Overall, this book makes an important contribution to the literature, laying emphasis on cultural features of collaboration. However, perhaps its greatest achievement is the amount of ideas and questions that the various chapters raise about collaboration. The case-studies provided are important as they provide evidence about the more 'practical' aspects of collaboration; how it works in practice and social factors which help and hinder its implementation.' Irish Journal of Sociology
