Prologue

Challenges for International Scientific Partnerships (CISP) is an American Academy initiative to identify the benefits of international scientific collaboration and recommend actions to be taken to address the most pressing challenges facing these partnerships. Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan, William and Flora Hewlett, and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundations, CISP makes policy recommendations and seeks to identify best practices to mitigate challenges for international science collaborations in all disciplines, including physical facilities, distributed networks, and peer-to-peer partnerships. The project, cochaired by Arthur Bienenstock (Stanford University) and Peter Michelson (Stanford University), includes three primary components, of which this report is the first.

The Large-Scale Science (LSS) working group approaches international collaborations through the lens of issues particular to large-scale science, and not peer-to-peer or small-scale international work. This group explores how the United States can enhance its role in these partnerships, both in physical facilities (like the European Organization for Nuclear Research) and distributed networks (like the Human Cell Atlas). The 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 cochaired by 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 discusses the importance of these collaborations to the United States and how the United States can be a better partner with emerging science partner countries, including efforts 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, America and the International Future of Science, bridges these two working groups to identify and describe the value of international scientific collaboration. Both working groups will publish their own more targeted reports with associated recommendations and examples of best practices in early 2021.