We are excited to announce the next event from Accelerating Collaborative Team Science (ACTS) — a Team Science educational program led by UNC's Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI). 

ACTS Webinar: The Costs of Large Teams in Innovation

Guest Speaker: Dr. Lingfei Wu, Assistant Professor of Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh

Date: Thursday, February 20, 2025, at 12 PM ET.

Abstract: During this event, Dr. Lingfei Wu (Assistant Professor of Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh) will discuss the overlooked costs of teamwork in innovation. By leveraging big data and AI tools, Dr. Wu identifies disruptive innovation in science and technology, showing how large teams can hinder individual creativity that might otherwise drive breakthrough advancement in the field (Wu et al., 2019, Nature). His analysis reveals that team hierarchy is a key factor, with early-career scientists often playing a supporting role in idea implementation rather than leading the generation of new ideas (Xu et al., 2022, PNAS; Lin et al., 2023, Nature). To deepen this investigation, his team created and analyzed the world’s first observational dataset on author contributions, derived from two million LaTeX source files from preprint websites. This innovative approach reveals how large teams can obscure individual recognition, especially for junior scientists. This issue has become increasingly relevant today, as teams grow ubiquitous across domains, yet not all team members receive recognition for their contributions. 

 Register Here: http://go.unc.edu/RENCI-ACTS-Feb2025-Webinar