The effects of group size and cooperation on the success of interdisciplinary groups in R & D

After considering the results of earlier reports on productivity in research, the efficiency of research teams in relation to their size, and the connection between communication and success in R & D laboratories, the authors have developed a mathematical model to analyse the qualitative and quantitative relationships between cooperation among researchers and the chances of success interdisciplinary groups may have. As the results show, this model can answer questions like: To what degree does the probability of success of inter-disciplinary research groups depend on the size of the group, the number of disciplines involved and the willingness of the individual members of the group to cooperate with colleagues within the group? or ‘How great is the marginal improvement in the probability of success of an inter-disciplinary group if two members of the group, which did not previously cooperate at all, start to cooperate, and are then joined by the third and so on, until full cooperation is reached? Is it the second, third or fifth researcher who makes the greatest contribution to the success of the group through his decision to Cooperate with the others?’