ESIIL Team Science Workshop: Collaboration Plans Beyond the Proposal—Coordinating Communication, Care, and Collective Work

Many funding agencies require collaboration plans as part of research proposals, yet these documents are often written primarily to satisfy reviewer expectations rather than to support how teams actually work together. As a result, collaboration plans often become static documents that do little to guide day-to-day collaboration, decision-making, or coordination once a project begins.

This workshop views collaboration plans as living tools for collective work. Drawing on insights from the science of team science and facilitation approaches, the session distinguishes between proposal-facing collaboration work (what a PI typically writes for a funder) and work-facing collaboration practices (what teams must negotiate together to function effectively). Participants will explore why common challenges such as misaligned expectations, unclear decision authority, communication breakdowns, unresolved conflict, and inequitable recognition often persist even when a formal collaboration plan exists.

This session is designed for researchers, project leads, and team members at any career stage, including those with little or no prior experience writing collaboration plans. Participants will leave with practical language, tools, and a clearer understanding of how collaboration planning can support healthier, more effective, and more equitable research teams beyond the proposal stage.