Collaboration is a key part of being an academic, especially in the sciences, but it's not something I'm good at instigating. Perhaps it's due to the fact that I no longer work in the same subfield as my PhD supervisor, or that I haven't worked as a minion in a research empire, or that I'm a not-so-latent control freak, but my collaborations tend to be few in number and intense in involvement. By that, I mean that I collaborate with a small number of people that I know and get on with at a personal level and that I devote a lot of time and energy to that work.
Not for me the shameless stalking of big-name researchers in the hope of adding their name to a paper of mine with little effort on their part, nor the scattergun approach of tagging along on every related project in the hope I have a few lines of input at some stage, nor the gritted-teeth gladhanding of people I personally despise because it is useful to be associated with them. It would undoubtedly benefit my career if I did one or all of these things, but the thought makes me wince like someone has placed a cold hand on the back of my neck.
What is this? Fear of rejection? Lingering sense of personal dignity?
Whatever it is, I can't force past it without feeling in need of a long shower. Looks like I'll just have to get by with my current approach of being visible in my research community even if I'm not collaborating with everyone.
Visible is good, right?
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