Collaboration in neuroscience: the young PI perspective

The 21st century was deemed to be the century of the nervous system and associated diseases. We entered the century with the grand ambition to gain a richer understanding of ourselves by uncovering the mysteries of the human mind and develop new ways to prevent and cure brain disorders. However, these aims remain, as yet, unfulfilled and disorders like Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, autism, depression, addiction and epilepsy still represent major health, economic and social burdens. The challenging complexity of the nervous system has necessitated the partitioning of the field into very specialized sub‐disciplines; any given laboratory aims to understand a specific layer of information processing in the brain: from molecules to behavior, from networks to computation, from cells to cognition. This “fragmented” approach to the brain has been driven by (i) the necessity to uncover and accumulate basic knowledge about the various levels of integration of the brain and (ii) the overwhelming complexity that precludes any single researcher from approaching the whole problem from top to bottom. However, in the last decade we might have reached a knowledge threshold, beyond which these “distinct” fields of neuroscience ought to be merged to understand how molecular mechanisms in neural networks orchestrate sophisticated, adaptive behaviors and cognitive processes, and how they go awry in neuropsychiatric disorders. This is where our individual limitations impinge on us and multidisciplinary approaches become necessary. Few laboratories can, on their own, begin to approach these questions, which demand a multi‐systems, multi‐disciplinary approach by their very definition. No single PI will be, simultaneously, an expert in computational neuroscience, experimental psychology, fMRI, patch‐clamp and RNAseq, which are only a small subset of the tools required to take such a comprehensive view. Science should be driven by hypotheses, which should not be limited to the techniques present in the lab. To solve these big questions, and often to obtain the funding for these endeavors, we must work together. Collaboration offers the unique opportunity to expand the knowledge base of the members of your laboratory, train people in new techniques and open new ways of thinking. Moreover, collaboration is also an excellent strategy to disseminate your knowledge, as co‐authored papers tend to be cited more frequently (Adams, 2012). As members of the FENS‐KAVLI network of excellence, representing neuroscientists at the early and mid stages of their career, we feel that we are a generation that is used to collaborations and greatly appreciates their importance. Many of us were educated in a generation that witnessed large collaborative projects, such as the genome project, that changed the mindset of scientists and the scientific culture. We often work in open spaces designed to foster collaboration, belong to multidisciplinary networks or part of integrative research centers. We have been witnessing this change to collaboration across most scientific disciplines as more scientists are working and publishing together. An issue of Nature today has a similar number of Letters to an issue published 60 years ago, but at least four times more authors (Greene, 2007; Adams, 2012). As a young PI, you are about to, or will eventually, engage in collaborative research projects from which you will gain a lot of experience, expertise and generate scientific output you would not have been able to achieve on your own. In some cases, you will initiate the collaboration and, in others, the collaboration will find you. Sometimes you will contribute to the concept and, other times, you will provide a unique expertise and technique that a collaborative research project would rely on. Each case is different and most importantly, it is a human adventure, involving not only yourself and your collaborator, but members of each lab and some of the joint resources. It is therefore very important to be well equipped to tailor your collaborative projects to fit your needs and your working habits. Eventually, some collaborations can turn into a lifelong journey, others may be a short fling and hopefully, only a few of them will become a source of mutual disappointment, especially provided you can equip yourself either to avoid them or manage them better. In this opinion piece, we put forward points for consideration and a road map to visualize the process of establishing a collaboration as a young PI. We suggest a decision tree (Fig.  ​1)1) based on simple questions you should ask yourself and your collaborator so that you can make informed decisions about the collaboration you are considering. We also discuss some basic management “rules” for the collaboration that may help you avoid potential traps. Indeed, collaborations can pose challenges to young PIs that are very different from those of established labs. Figure 1 Decision tree of a collaboration process. The tree is divided into two general scenarios as described in the text. On the left, is a suggestion for making appropriate and decisions when you are approached for collaboration. On the right, is a suggestion ...