1. Research Strategic Plan: 2015-2020
Inclusion of Team Science in
Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
James Tomasek, PhD OUHSC Vice President for Research
February 1, 2018

2. Overview of Today’s Meeting
Rationale for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Best Practices for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Mechanism and Timeline for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines

3. Rationale for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines  
What is Team Science?
Team science is a collaborative effort
Although traditional single-investigator driven approaches are ideal for many scientific endeavors, coordinated teams of investigators with diverse skills and knowledge may be especially helpful for studies of complex biomedical problems with multiple causes
Cross-disciplinary science in which team members with training and expertise in different fields work together to combine or integrate their perspectives in a single research endeavor
Identified as a means to engage in expansive studies that address a broad array of complex and interacting variables
Taken from the National Cancer Institute
Team Science Toolkit

4. Rationale for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines  
“The need for a transdisciplinary approach to the study of health and disease is critically needed because the traditional silo approach to these issues clearly is not adequate to the challenges we face…..A new paradigm is needed.”
S. Leonard Syme, PhD, The Science of Team Science: Assessing the Value of Transdisciplinary Research, Am J Prev Med 2008;35(2S):S94-95
“Institutions, journals, the NIH, and other research sponsors should take steps to facilitate appropriate academic recognition of translational and clinical scientists for their contributions to collaborative research”
Promoting Translational and Clinical Science: The Critical Role of Medical Schools and Teaching Hospitals: Report of the AAMC’s Task Force II on Clinical Research – Recommendation 6

5. HSC Research Strategic Plan: 2015-2020 Executive Summary
GOAL1 Provide an environment to advance excellence in discovery, creativity, and technology development GOAL 2 Advance team-based research GOAL 3 Accelerate translational research GOAL 4 Expand research in thematic areas

6. Goal 2: Advance Team-Based Research
Subgoal 2.1
Incentivize team-based research through targeted funding and other methods
Subgoal 2.2
Recognize team-based research through promotion/tenure and awards
Subgoal 2.3
Partner with peer institutions through faculty recruitment, capital investment, joint funding opportunities, and trans-institutional collaboration

7. Subgoal 2.2: Recognize Team-Based Research Through Promotion/Tenure And Awards
Key Strategies/Tactics
Update Promotion & Tenure guidelines to recognize team science.
Repurpose existing awards and/or develop new awards for team science.
Increase joint recruitment and coordination to enhance building of teams.

8. Best Practices for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Excellence in Team Science Activity will Equally Contribute to Promotion and Tenure
Each college has their own expectation for what constitutes the level of activity expected to be excellent in Research and Scholarly Activity for Promotion and Tenure
The is goal is NOT to change the level of activity expected to be excellent in Research and Scholarly Activity
The goal is to be able to evaluate team science activities to determine whether they meet the level of activity expected for excellence in Research and Scholarly Activity for Promotion and for Tenure
A candidate with a mixed portfolio of individual and team science research would be expected to meet the level of activity expected for excellence in individual or team science research or some combination of the two

9. Best Practices for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
 College Agrees Team Science is Valuable
Must see team science as valuable to advancing biomedical science and patient care
Must be willing to equate same value for team science activities as for other types of research activity, such as independent research
Must develop methods of evaluating team science activities to determine the value of these activities towards excellence in Research and Scholarly Activity
relatively easy to put a value on independent research
more difficult to put value on contribution of team science member to research project

10. Best Practices for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
College Should Articulate “Aspirational Statement” as Part of Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Support for team science as essential for advancing biomedical science and patient care
Importance of evaluating team science activities for Promotion and Tenure
Example of statement supporting team science (adapted from Jefferson Medical School):
“…encourages interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaborative research as it considers this team-based research to be essential to advancing biomedical science and patient care. As such, in the evaluation of a candidate for faculty appointment or promotion, the participation of the faculty member in interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaborative basic, translational, or clinical research, where the faculty member has a significant leadership role that is integral to the project, this effort will be considered equivalent to that of a principal investigator in an independent research project."

11. Best Practices for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Team Science Research Different than Independent Investigator Initiated Research and will Require Different Ways to Evaluate Activities of Team Science Members
Evaluation of Research and Scholarly Activity traditionally focused on a candidate’s individual achievements
First and senior authorships
Funding as principal investigator on grant awards
Invitations to make presentations on national and international forums
Evaluation of team science researcher will need to focus on
Substantial and critical scholastic involvement of candidate to team science project
Candidate’s contribution to interdisciplinary teamwork, including:
Originality
Creativity
Indispensability
Unique abilities

12. Best Practices for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
It is the candidate’s responsibility to include in their narrative for their Research and Scholarly Activity dossier:
Description of their role in the overall activities of the team
Role as part of the team in funded team science grants
Role as part of the team in publications resulting from team science projects
Growth as an investigator in focused research activities as evidenced by a key collaborative role in one or more research programs

13. Best Practices for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Publications – Team Science
Team science publication – may be middle author, not be first or senior author
Documentation of substantial and critical scholastic involvement as a significant collaborating author for team science project
Team Science publications could include peer-reviewed
Scientific manuscripts
Monographs
Reviews
Reports to administrative agencies
Book chapters
Clinical case studies
Policy briefs

14. Best Practices for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Funding – Team Science
Team science grant – multiple investigators required to address complex biomedical issue
Documentation of substantial and critical scholastic involvement as significant investigator on team science funded project
The research team should demonstrate the ability to compete for external peer-reviewed funding
Team science grants (examples)
Investigator on Multi-PI grant
Investigator on Collaborative Program Grant for Multidisciplinary Teams
Investigator on large network clinical trial (such as NCI’s National Clinical Trials Network)

15. Best Practices for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Role of Chair in Documentation of Substantial and Critical Scholastic Involvement of Candidate to Team Science Project
Solicitation of information regarding the candidate from
Director of the research project
Senior investigators on the research project
Others who have first-hand knowledge that would clarify the candidate’s role in the overall team project
Chair’s letter should
Describe the collaboration in detail
Describe the candidate’s substantial and critical scholastic involvement in the team activities
Collect appropriate letters of evaluation

16. Best Practices for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Internal and external letters of evaluation should address, where relevant,
The candidate’s role in the team-based research project
Substantial and critical scholastic involvement as an investigator on team science project
Growth as an investigator in focused team science research activities as evidenced by a key collaborative role in one or more research programs
Value of the candidate to the work of the team
Substantial and critical scholastic involvement in funded team science projects
Substantial and critical scholastic involvement in team science publications

17. Best Practices for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Educate College’s Promotion and Tenure Committee on Team Science Guidelines
The candidate’s role in the team-based research project
Support for team science as essential for advancing biomedical science and patient care
Importance of evaluating team science activities for Promotion and Tenure
Understand how to evaluate team science activities to determine whether they meet the level of activity expected for excellence in Research and Scholarly Activity for Promotion and for Tenure

18. Mechanism and Timeline for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Activities done or planned to assist Colleges with incorporating team science activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Office of the Vice President for Research to assist Committees with incorporating team science into College’s Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Changes made to Faculty Handbook to incorporate team science activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines (revised September 13, 2017)
College Deans approved at December 13, Deans’ Council to incorporate team science activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Each College Dean has identified committee to work on incorporating team science into College’s Promotion and Tenure Guidelines

19. Mechanism and Timeline for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Timeline for incorporating team science activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Sept
2017
Dec 2017
Feb
2018
Feb –
March
April
September 2017
Revise Faculty Handbook
December 2017
Deans’ Council approves incorporating team science into College’s Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
February 1 and
Office of Vice President for Research meets with College committees to discuss team science
February – March 2018
College committees work on incorporating team science into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
April 2018
College committees report on work incorporating team science into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines

20. Mechanism and Timeline for Incorporating Team Science Activities into Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
REFERENCES
Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science, Chapter 8-Institutional and Organizational Support for Team Science, National Research Council, The National Academies Press,
Mazumadar et al, Evaluating Academic Scientists Collaborating in Team-Based Research: A Proposed Framework, Academic Medicine,
Merits and Promotion in a Team Science Environment-Work in Progress at one medical school – 2012 AAMC Annual Meeting
National Cancer Institute, Team Science Toolkit,
Promoting Team Science at the University of Colorado Denver, Prepared by the Leadership for Innovation in Team Science, April 5,
Team Science Promotion and Tenure Process – Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
University of Virginia School of Medicine, Faculty Affairs and Development, Team Science
   

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