Monitoring and Management > 1. Chemists and Reactions >
Identify the need for collaboration between chemists as they collect and analyse data
- Chemistry is a very broad discipline, and within it, chemists specialise in particular areas.
- This specialisation generally begins during university training and develops throughout a chemist’s career.
- Chemists, like scientists in general, tend to work in co-operative teams, as broad-ranging and complex chemical problems require input from many chemists with different specialties.
- Team members have different roles based on their different expertise, and are usually under the direction of a head chemist.
- Chemists cannot perform their role in a problem in isolation, as their aspect of the problem may have implications for other aspects being handled by other chemists.
- It is essential that chemists work collaboratively, communicating regularly with each other and exchanging different viewpoints about problems.
- The need for collaboration requires chemists to have good communication skills.
- When a chemists talks to other chemists who are not experts in his or her field, it is important that the specialised chemical jargon of that field not be used in excess.