Meaningful Research Collaborations

The Problem

High-quality research results from meaningful collaborations: What are the elements of meaningful collaborations?

Our Approach

We will share our experiences of meaningful collaborations, identifying some of the critical elements that supported the identification and achievement of research goals. Using 3 common prototypes of new research collaborations, we explain how to apply these critical elements from both the researcher and the educator perspective:

• Speak the same "language" (research or clinical)

• Know your research question or education context

• Be open to learning from others

• Do at least a brief lit review ahead of time

• Be patient (ethics reviews etc take time)

Additionally, we highlight the need to incorporate project management strategies, such as task blocking, and process mapping. Finally, we offer advice on how to navigate conversations about authorship, and accountability for ethics review, budget and data management.

Instructional Methods

We will use a mix of didactic and round table discussion. The didactic component will be primarily to share experiences of the workshop leaders. The round table format will encourage a problem based approach to addressing challenges in research collaborations. Once we have identified key elements for the development of this collaborative relationship, we will use a "Speed Dating" approach with pairs of participants reflecting on the process and barriers to solving typical problem-spots in this aspect of the scholarly journey.