Prologue

Challenges for International Scientific Partnerships (CISP) is an American Academy initiative to articulate the benefits of international collaboration and recommend solutions to the most pressing challenges associated with the design and operation of international partnerships. This initiative, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan, William and Flora Hewlett, and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundations, identifies policy recommendations and best practices to mitigate challenges for international science collaborations, including physical facilities, distributed networks, and peer-to-peer partnerships. The project is cochaired by Arthur Bienenstock (Stanford University) and Peter Michelson (Stanford University).

The Large-Scale Science (LSS) working group approaches international collaborations through the lens of issues particular to large-scale science, not peer-to-peer or small-scale international work. This group has been tasked with exploring how the United States can enhance its role in these partnerships, both in physical facilities (such as the European Organization for Nuclear Research) and distributed networks (such as the Human Cell Atlas). This group is focusing on recommendations that will bolster U.S. ability to partake in large-scale collaboration efforts as meaningful and engaged partners. The LSS working group is led by CISP Cochairs Arthur Bienenstock and Peter Michelson.

The Emerging Science Partners (ESP) working group explores issues particular to U.S. scientific collaborations at all scales with countries seeking to boost their scientific capacity, particularly those with limited resources to do so. This working group frames discussions around how the United States can be a better collaborator in its partnerships with emerging science partner countries and work to increase equity in these collaborations. The ESP working group is cochaired by Olufunmilayo Olopade (University of Chicago) and Shirley Malcom (American Association for the Advancement of Science).
 

This report, Bold Ambition: International Large-Scale Science, describes the essential role of large-scale science initiatives, also referred to as megascience initiatives, for the U.S. scientific enterprise. It identifies best practices for building large-scale scientific collaborations in the future. Bold Ambition joins two other reports from the initiative: America and the International Future of Science (December 2020) and Global Connections: Emerging Science Partners (forthcoming 2021).