I 1.1 Realization of ELA W AT
271
In spite of all these efforts, the required collaboration did not work out in all
cases. Sometimes there were problems with the thematic delimitation required for
PhD theses. This is unavoidable as long as projects rely on PhD students as their
sole or main scientific manpower.
Next to the interdisciplinary collaboration in a joint project, the involvement in
the individual disciplines must still be maintained. Therefore, scientific partners at
the institutions or universities have to ensure a continuous dialogue within the
respective discipline. This requires also regular participation in conferences to stay
up-to-date with specific topics.
A stronger feedback with experienced scientists on the progress of work would
have been welcomed by ELA W A T. This does not only ask for the supervision by
sub-project leaders, but e.g. also for written recommendations by the reviewers at
the annual hearings. Such a feedback could also raise the motivation.
International workshops
Since the topic and approach of ELA W AT touched on aspects of marine and ecosystem sciences that are under debate in the international scientific community, we
looked for discussions on these issues. This was realized in two workshops with
the participation of experts from all over the world. One workshop targeted conceptual problems with the ecosystem approach (see articles in Dittmann et al.
1996), the other the relevance of disturbances in coastal marine ecosystems. At
both workshops the presentations enjoyed lively and inspiring discussions. For
ELA W A T, these workshops gave the opportunity to talk about theoretical aspects
and reflect on our approach, which resulted in the advancement of the concept in
the course of the project. We could also put our results into an international perspective. Constructive recommendations and the dialogue between the participants
at the workshops helped to promote work in ELA W A T. Furthermore, our project
thus became known both nationally and internationally. Workshops on specific
topics with a small number (50-100) of international scientists have thus proven to
be very favourable for the advancement of this joint ecosystem research.
Statistical consulting
A further successful approach in ELA W AT was to have a sub-project solely designated to statistical questions. This enabled consultations in statistical questions
which were essential, as the complex ecological questions could not be analysed
with ordinary procedures, but required the advancement or new developments of
statistical tests (see also Chap. 4).
The statistical consulting offered by the sub-project was in high demand
throughout the entire project. This included the planning of experiments and sampling designs, the choice of suitable statistical procedures for data analysis, the
choice for and practical help with statistical software, the interpretation of statistical results, the (further) development of statistical models and procedures according to the demands of the sub-projects as well as the development of specific software.
271
In spite of all these efforts, the required collaboration did not work out in all
cases. Sometimes there were problems with the thematic delimitation required for
PhD theses. This is unavoidable as long as projects rely on PhD students as their
sole or main scientific manpower.
Next to the interdisciplinary collaboration in a joint project, the involvement in
the individual disciplines must still be maintained. Therefore, scientific partners at
the institutions or universities have to ensure a continuous dialogue within the
respective discipline. This requires also regular participation in conferences to stay
up-to-date with specific topics.
A stronger feedback with experienced scientists on the progress of work would
have been welcomed by ELA W A T. This does not only ask for the supervision by
sub-project leaders, but e.g. also for written recommendations by the reviewers at
the annual hearings. Such a feedback could also raise the motivation.
International workshops
Since the topic and approach of ELA W AT touched on aspects of marine and ecosystem sciences that are under debate in the international scientific community, we
looked for discussions on these issues. This was realized in two workshops with
the participation of experts from all over the world. One workshop targeted conceptual problems with the ecosystem approach (see articles in Dittmann et al.
1996), the other the relevance of disturbances in coastal marine ecosystems. At
both workshops the presentations enjoyed lively and inspiring discussions. For
ELA W A T, these workshops gave the opportunity to talk about theoretical aspects
and reflect on our approach, which resulted in the advancement of the concept in
the course of the project. We could also put our results into an international perspective. Constructive recommendations and the dialogue between the participants
at the workshops helped to promote work in ELA W A T. Furthermore, our project
thus became known both nationally and internationally. Workshops on specific
topics with a small number (50-100) of international scientists have thus proven to
be very favourable for the advancement of this joint ecosystem research.
Statistical consulting
A further successful approach in ELA W AT was to have a sub-project solely designated to statistical questions. This enabled consultations in statistical questions
which were essential, as the complex ecological questions could not be analysed
with ordinary procedures, but required the advancement or new developments of
statistical tests (see also Chap. 4).
The statistical consulting offered by the sub-project was in high demand
throughout the entire project. This included the planning of experiments and sampling designs, the choice of suitable statistical procedures for data analysis, the
choice for and practical help with statistical software, the interpretation of statistical results, the (further) development of statistical models and procedures according to the demands of the sub-projects as well as the development of specific software.