Small really is beautiful in university science research

Letter to the Editor of the Financial Times Your correspondent Andrew Jack cites a recent research study of US academics published last month in Nature Biotechnology, a leading peer-reviewed journal, that shows that larger teams are less innovative in scientific research and contribute to limited career prospects for junior scientists (“Big research teams blamed for curbing careers”, Report, August 20). Our study published in Nature in June shows that smaller teams also enhance innovation by making breakthrough scientific discoveries at the institutional level in basic science which consist of high-stakes innovative research with significant risk of failure.