Frank van der Most
- @Frank_van_der_Most
- | He, him
RubberBootsData
This is ( paraphrased ) the question that the member asked:
I am interested in scientific cooperation, like collaborations on projects, papers, and new insights. I am also interested in opportunities to collaborate on biodiversity-based start-ups, drawing on my background in <topic>.
Here is - also paraphrased - my answer:
Considering what you are after, the best would be to join one or more of the groups that have your scientific interest, rather than the Funding and Finance group.
As far as my experience with WILDLABS and my own attempts to find collaboration, tell me, it is not a matter of directly asking for it out of the blue ( For entertainment : 'Well, this is what you are not going to do' ). You're most welcome to try, but if you write a post with a request for collaboration, you're not likely to get any meaningful answers. That is because nobody knows you - well unless you are a well established scientist in your field.
The way for other members to get to know you is to become a participating member of the community. By:
- Making sure you have your profile filled with decent information
- Introducing yourself in this post https://wildlabs.net/discussion/welcome
- Posting about the content of your work. That could be sharing insights, or asking questions about things you don't know or are puzzled about.
- Answering questions that other people ask and participate in discussions that might arise
- Showing up and participating at webinars - the Variety Hours are a place to start, but the different groups occasionally also organize webinars or other events. You could also present your work at a Variety Hour
Taking things to a higher level:
- Becoming a group curator, and making your group come to more life. There are annual calls for volunteers.
- Producing a ( free ) killer software application or piece of hardware
All this is a long road, and it does not necessarily lead to success, but as far as I know, there are no other possible roads within WILDLABS.
What would you recommend? Or what were your experiences with finding collaborators on WILDLABS?
Header photo: Jitu Mondal
11 March 2026 9:22am
Great summary, Frank. I agree with and have experienced many of the points. I have asked and get asked for collaborations, but many people don't realize how big of a commitment it actually is. There are so many things that complicate it, ie:
- Who are you and do you work well in a collaboration. Certain types of people are lone cowboys/girls while others are add a huge amount of a value to a collaboration group.
- Can they do what they say? Some people have a lot of skills but don't have a lot of time to do things promptly. Others are early in their career and may lack practical experience. Sometimes it's totally fine to collaborate with someone that is early career. In fact, they can often bring a lot of energy to things. In other cases, I've met early career people that are looking to prove themselves or have the "fake it til you make it" attitude which makes things difficult.
- Is there complementary expertise? Two technical people getting together on a conservation project sometimes doesn't work out well because it's unbalanced. I think it's good to have a good balance of technology, domain expertise, and field practitioner.
- Are the roles clear? Sometimes the ecologist wants to be the engineer or vice versa. Although there should be good learning on both sides, having clear roles makes things much simpler and avoids stepping on toes and a lot of confusion in the division of labor.
- What happens to the intellectual property at the conclusion of the collaboration? This is a horrible thing to bring up at the beginning of the collaboration, but what if you make something that is commercially viable. Does it get split 50/50? Does it go open source? Does each participant own or have a license to freely use the collaboration IP? If there are commercial aspirations, it's best to lay that out at the beginning.
- How does each party want themselves viewed in the collaboration? It's best to figure out early how each party wants to be credited in case you get press or publications.
- What is the origin story? There are many projects that end up attracting a lot of attention. Then the people that started it have different origin stories that are often conflicting. The truth is that the origin story gets biased over time in everyone's mind so at some point, It's best to get together and agree on what the origin story will be. The synchronization will save a lot of heartache and make it easy to put together a press kit or press release if you get to the point where it's getting written up.
All this isn't to discourage people from collaborations. A good collaboration can lead to great things and a lot of innovation. Each collaboration is an opportunity to create something innovative and impact the world. For us, collaborations are great and have led to amazing projects that we could have never pulled off alone. But it's always best to be aware of and head off the potential messy issues that may come up.
Hope this helps anyone that wants to start a collaboration. I think it's best to balance casual-ness with awareness of the realities of where things may go.
Akiba
Frank van der Most
RubberBootsData
12 March 2026 6:10pm
In reply to Freaklabs
11 March 2026 9:22am
Great summary, Frank. I agree with and have experienced many of the points. I have asked and get asked for collaborations, but many people don't realize how big of a commitment it actually is. There are so many things that complicate it, ie:
- Who are you and do you work well in a collaboration. Certain types of people are lone cowboys/girls while others are add a huge amount of a value to a collaboration group.
- Can they do what they say? Some people have a lot of skills but don't have a lot of time to do things promptly. Others are early in their career and may lack practical experience. Sometimes it's totally fine to collaborate with someone that is early career. In fact, they can often bring a lot of energy to things. In other cases, I've met early career people that are looking to prove themselves or have the "fake it til you make it" attitude which makes things difficult.
- Is there complementary expertise? Two technical people getting together on a conservation project sometimes doesn't work out well because it's unbalanced. I think it's good to have a good balance of technology, domain expertise, and field practitioner.
- Are the roles clear? Sometimes the ecologist wants to be the engineer or vice versa. Although there should be good learning on both sides, having clear roles makes things much simpler and avoids stepping on toes and a lot of confusion in the division of labor.
- What happens to the intellectual property at the conclusion of the collaboration? This is a horrible thing to bring up at the beginning of the collaboration, but what if you make something that is commercially viable. Does it get split 50/50? Does it go open source? Does each participant own or have a license to freely use the collaboration IP? If there are commercial aspirations, it's best to lay that out at the beginning.
- How does each party want themselves viewed in the collaboration? It's best to figure out early how each party wants to be credited in case you get press or publications.
- What is the origin story? There are many projects that end up attracting a lot of attention. Then the people that started it have different origin stories that are often conflicting. The truth is that the origin story gets biased over time in everyone's mind so at some point, It's best to get together and agree on what the origin story will be. The synchronization will save a lot of heartache and make it easy to put together a press kit or press release if you get to the point where it's getting written up.
All this isn't to discourage people from collaborations. A good collaboration can lead to great things and a lot of innovation. Each collaboration is an opportunity to create something innovative and impact the world. For us, collaborations are great and have led to amazing projects that we could have never pulled off alone. But it's always best to be aware of and head off the potential messy issues that may come up.
Hope this helps anyone that wants to start a collaboration. I think it's best to balance casual-ness with awareness of the realities of where things may go.
Akiba
Hej Akiba!
What a great follow up on the article! Good to know that you share my insights and experiences. And more importantly, as becomes abundantly clear from your long addition, inviting someone, getting invited and accepting the invite is really still just the beginning, even after all the work done to become part of a community.
Lots of pitfalls, but warning and solving these issue is in part what WildLabs is for!
Akiba
Freaklabs