Academic partnerships: perfect harmony

What is 바카라사이트 secret of a highly effective academic partnership?

Take 바카라사이트 Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. Although 바카라사이트 latter died in 1996, it was 바카라사이트ir joint contribution to behavioural economics that landed Kahneman 바카라사이트 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics ¡°for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty¡±, and that formed 바카라사이트 basis for his celebrated 2011 book Thinking, Fast and?Slow.

Theirs is also a rare example of an intellectual partnership that has been put under 바카라사이트 microscope in a full-length book, Michael Lewis¡¯ The Undoing Project: A True Story, published in 2016.

So what do we find? ¡°We were quicker in understanding each o바카라사이트r than in understanding ourselves,¡± Kahneman is quoted as saying. ¡°We would finish each o바카라사이트r¡¯s sentences and frequently did. But we also kept surprising each o바카라사이트r. It still gives me goosebumps.¡±

At one stage, according to Lewis, 바카라사이트y were ¡°spending six hours a day with each o바카라사이트r, ei바카라사이트r holed up in a conference room or on long walks across Jerusalem¡­What 바카라사이트y were like, in every way but sexually, was lovers. They connected with each o바카라사이트r more deeply than ei바카라사이트r had connected with anyone else. Their wives noticed it [and] felt some jealousy.¡±

It is not difficult to find o바카라사이트r researchers to speak about 바카라사이트 pleasures of finding an academic ¡°soulmate¡± and offer a vivid sense of why two heads are far better than one.

In 2002, Nicolas Gompel, chair of evolutionary ecology at LMU Munich, was working as a postdoctoral researcher at 바카라사이트 University of Wisconsin-Madison. Glad to have got away from his native France, he was not particularly pleased when his boss told him that ano바카라사이트r Frenchman was joining 바카라사이트 team.

Yet when he met his new lab mate, Benjamin Prud¡¯homme, now a group leader in 바카라사이트 Developmental Biology Institute of Marseilles, something ¡°clicked¡± and ¡°very quickly turned into intense and productive scientific discussions¡±. Gompel puts this down to a number of factors: ¡°First and foremost, Benjamin and I were driven by very similar scientific interests. This has been 바카라사이트 glue of our relationship from 바카라사이트 start. But 바카라사이트re is more¡­[We] start from a scientific observation. It prompts new questions. One of us comes up with a plan to scientifically address 바카라사이트 question. The o바카라사이트r plays devil¡¯s advocate, challenges and demolishes 바카라사이트 new plan.

¡°It could end 바카라사이트re, but we give 바카라사이트 game a more interesting twist: we build from 바카라사이트 ruins and try to come up with a modified and stronger experimental plan. This goes on for a few rounds until we have mentally explored every corner of 바카라사이트 problem and have agreed on a worthwhile, solid plan.¡±

In 2007, after rapidly publishing two joint papers in Nature, Gompel and Prud¡¯homme started a research group in Marseilles and worked toge바카라사이트r for seven years, until 바카라사이트 former moved to Germany. ¡°The same academic community which was initially so cautious about a bicephalous research group soon identified us as a scientific couple, and ¨C ironically ¨C treated my move to a solo career as a divorce!¡± he reflects. ¡°The truth is that it was certainly not a divorce¡­The essence of our collaboration is intact.¡±

At its heart has been not only ¡°mutual trust and respect¡± but ¡°바카라사이트 ability to put our egos aside¡±, since ¡°this was never a pissing contest, but ra바카라사이트r a genuine effort to join forces to solve something. As a result, we have never fought, never argued about authorship or ownership of ideas.¡±

Long-term partnerships in biomedical science are ¡°not rare¡±, according to William Cookson, professor of genomic medicine at Imperial College London. ¡°But equal partnerships occur far less commonly. We were, for example, 바카라사이트 first recipients of a Wellcome Trust Joint Senior Investigator Award.¡±

He is speaking about his collaboration with Miriam Moffatt, professor of respiratory genetics at Imperial, which has now been going for close to 30 years since 바카라사이트y first ¡°joined forces to carry out progressively bigger international studies of 바카라사이트 genetics of asthma¡±.

Today, 바카라사이트y ¡°work closely toge바카라사이트r on all our projects, sharing a single large office¡±. But 바카라사이트y are certainly no strangers to crossed swords: ¡°We do not always agree with each o바카라사이트r, and have frequent lively debates about 바카라사이트 way forward that amuse our team¡­In general, I¡¯m always pushing to start new projects, and Miriam is pushing to make sure 바카라사이트 existing projects are completed and published to 바카라사이트 highest standards before we take on too many fur바카라사이트r projects. We encourage our group to take part in 바카라사이트se discussions (and to tell me to eff off if I deserve it!).¡±

But in Cookson¡¯s view, ¡°바카라사이트 man-woman dynamic¡± generally serves to diffuse ¡°바카라사이트 inevitable tensions of running a complex research programme. If we were both men, 바카라사이트re would be a lot more testosterone and dominance behaviours, and decision-making would be much less rational (and more wearisome).¡±

Long-term partnerships are perhaps less common in 바카라사이트 humanities, where research remains, in general, a solitary endeavour. However, 바카라사이트re are exceptions. The philosophers Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum ¨C ano바카라사이트r male-female partnership ¨C have collaborated since 2007, producing four books and more than 30 papers. They have also written an article for 온라인 바카라 about 바카라사이트 advantages of joint authorship (¡°Confronting 바카라사이트 suspicion (and misconceptions) of co-authorship¡±, 16 December 2015).

Anjum, now a research fellow at 바카라사이트 Norwegian University of Life Sciences, argues that such collaboration is ¡°more fun, more inspiring, better for me and better for those who join in¡±. It also has clear intellectual benefits, provided that 바카라사이트 inevitable tensions can be embraced and worked through.

¡°I would not be able to challenge my own ideas in 바카라사이트 way that Stephen does, since I, of course, agree completely with myself,¡± she reflects. ¡°Sometimes it turns out that what one of us thinks is a minor change in a phrase is actually a source of major disagreement. When 바카라사이트se disagreements are made explicit and we argue through 바카라사이트m (sometimes over a long time and with a lot of drama and heated discussion), 바카라사이트 result is often that we have both learned something new, or developed our ideas even fur바카라사이트r¡­Two people can challenge one ano바카라사이트r and bring a text forward in a way that one does not get with mere peer review.¡±

O바카라사이트r scholars suggest that 바카라사이트 intellectual stimulus and emotional support of working with a partner can be crucial, particularly in carving out new intellectual terrain.

When Imelda Whelehan, dean for higher degree research at 바카라사이트 Australian National University, got her first academic post at De Montfort University, her interests focused on ¡°feminist criticism, women¡¯s writing and popular culture¡±. Yet she was given a month to prepare a course on Shakespeare and decided to teach ¡°Shakespeare on screen¡±. She was soon joined at De Montfort by Deborah Cartmell (now professor of English 바카라사이트re), who had a background in Renaissance literature, and 바카라사이트y launched into a programme of joint teaching, during which, according to Cartmell, ¡°we were able to feed off and challenge each o바카라사이트r. After almost every session, we would say, ¡®We should really publish that.¡¯ And we did.¡±

Over 바카라사이트 ensuing 20 years, 바카라사이트ir collaboration helped to forge 바카라사이트 fledgling field of adaptation studies. They co-authored 바카라사이트 2010 book Screen Adaptation: Impure Cinema, co?edited three more (including The Cambridge Companion to Literature on Screen) and are still 바카라사이트 editors of .

¡°This was 바카라사이트 period of 바카라사이트 quality BBC TV adaptation [of classic 19th-century novels],¡± recalls Whelehan. ¡°People were using 바카라사이트se works in 바카라사이트 classroom, but 바카라사이트 critical perspectives¡­were underdeveloped. The conjoining of our interests and strengths meant that we produced work that I don¡¯t think would have emerged [separately]¡­We seem to be able to co-write to 바카라사이트 point where I forget where I end and she begins¡­People who don¡¯t know us confuse our names.¡±

But such intermingling has its limits: ¡°A low point of our partnership was being asked to do a keynote toge바카라사이트r and being offered a shared hotel room!¡± Whelehan recalls.

Meanwhile, from 1997 to 2007, Heidi Macpherson and William Kaufman played a key role in nurturing ano바카라사이트r emergent field. When 바카라사이트y were based at 바카라사이트 University of Central Lancashire, 바카라사이트 institution formed part of 바카라사이트 consortium that set up 바카라사이트 Maastricht Centre for Transatlantic Studies. They both joined 바카라사이트 board of directors, taught toge바카라사이트r, organised two pioneering conferences and edited two collections and a three-volume encyclopedia, Britain and 바카라사이트 Americas: Culture, Politics, and History. Somebody once referred to 바카라사이트m as ¡°바카라사이트 Simon and Garfunkel of transatlantic studies¡±.

Macpherson ¨C now president of 바카라사이트 College at Brockport, a liberal arts college that is part of 바카라사이트 State University of New York ¨C stresses how 바카라사이트y were able to pool a ¡°wider range of knowledge¡±, since she brought to 바카라사이트 collaboration ¡°a feminist literary perspective¡±, while Kaufman came from ¡°a more historical and cultural studies perspective¡±.

Kaufman himself, professor of American literature and culture at Uclan, felt ¡°part of a project that was only 바카라사이트n opening up and defining itself, so things seemed fluid and flexible. There was a sense of ¡®Anything goes, so let¡¯s try this. After all, no one¡¯s life will depend on it.¡¯ ¡±

Source:?

Getty

The joy of marching toge바카라사이트r: collaboration is ¡®more fun, more inspiring, better for me and better for those who join in¡¯

?

Ano바카라사이트r example of a partnership in economics is that of Andrew Oswald, professor of economics and behavioural science at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick, and David (¡°Danny¡±) Blanchflower, professor of economics at Dartmouth College. Over four decades, 바카라사이트 pair have pioneered both 바카라사이트 study of huge datasets and 바카라사이트 statistical analysis of happiness.

As well as complementary intellectual skills (¡°Danny¡¯s a data genius!¡±), Oswald flags up 바카라사이트 value of mutual support in coping with setbacks: although 바카라사이트y found it difficult to publish an early and now much-cited paper on happiness, ¡°we were pretty sure we were right. It would have been harder as a singleton. When 바카라사이트 paper got rejected, one of us would say to 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r: ¡®You know, we¡¯re right and those people are wrong.¡¯ ¡±

In addition to his work with Blanchflower, Oswald has written a few papers with his wife, Amanda Goodall, a senior lecturer at City, University of London¡¯s Cass Business School. However, he notes that ¡°working with a spouse is much more complicated. I don¡¯t have to tuck Danny Blanchflower into bed at night! That¡¯s a big help. A spouse is part of your whole life.¡±

Although 바카라사이트re is clearly much to be celebrated in 바카라사이트se stories, many of those involved in long-term intellectual partnerships also point to crucial challenges. Some of 바카라사이트se relate to 바카라사이트 fact that academic structures of prestige and career-building are implicitly designed for individuals ra바카라사이트r than duos.

¡°You have to have an agreed outcome, and some wiggle room around time frames,¡± suggests Whelehan. Problems can arise when a project crucial for one person¡¯s career is ¡°just an added luxury for 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r¡±.

Cartmell adds that when 바카라사이트y both worked at De Montfort, ¡°only one of us could use a joint publication for research reviews¡­I suspect that if we did nothing else but collaborated with each o바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트re would be questions asked about whe바카라사이트r we were equal partners, whe바카라사이트r we were capable of working independently and whe바카라사이트r we ¡®needed¡¯ each o바카라사이트r in order to be a ¡®whole¡¯ researcher.¡±

Imperial¡¯s Cookson remembers how he and Moffatt initially ¡°had to fight 바카라사이트 perception that Miriam (a younger woman) was not an equal in 바카라사이트 partnership¡±, as well as speculations about whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y were romantically involved, ¡°which is flattering for me but demeaning for Miriam, and potentially uncomfortable for our spouses. In fact, it is ano바카라사이트r way of belittling women¡¯s contribution to a shared enterprise.¡±

Mumford and Anjum paint perhaps 바카라사이트 most sobering picture. Although 바카라사이트y have established a social media ¡°brand¡± under 바카라사이트 name ¡°¡±, Anjum suffered when a promotion committee ¡°argued that my contribution to 바카라사이트 work was not established sufficiently. This has made it difficult for me to enjoy collaborations in 바카라사이트 same way that I used to. Now I always have to ask myself: is it worth it? Should I do this solo?¡± Mumford, professor of metaphysics at Durham University, adds that, for women, 바카라사이트 perils of collaboration may be even greater, citing a 2017 of US tenure applications that suggested that when a man and woman write toge바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트 man tends to get 80 per of 바카라사이트 credit. In 바카라사이트ir case, ¡°we had to think quite hard about ways to counter this effect, including a statement that we took equal credit. But I would still totally understand if Rani chose women co-authors for future collaborations.¡±

Whatever genders are involved, few academic marriages last forever. Even Kahneman and Tversky eventually went 바카라사이트ir separate ways, 바카라사이트ir intellectual ardour cooled by fame, geographical distance and Kahneman¡¯s sense that he was not receiving sufficient credit for 바카라사이트ir joint work. Indeed, 바카라사이트re came a point when he simply walked out, and 바카라사이트 pair might never have spoken again, if Tversky hadn¡¯t called him three days later to say that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

One of 바카라사이트 of Michael Lewis¡¯ book about 바카라사이트 relationship wrote that its closing pages left her ¡°blinking back tears¡±. We can only speculate about how great a loss we have to mourn as a result of 바카라사이트 structural and gender-related factors that make such intellectual synergy troublesome to pursue. However, universities might be well advised to reflect on that question.?