Season 1, Episode 2 — Archana Sharma on Collaboration, Trust, and Science Diplomacy in Practice
Scientific discovery at scale depends not only on ideas, but on systems — large infrastructures, long-term coordination, and sustained cooperation across countries that are not always politically aligned. In this conversation, physicist Archana Sharma reflects on how global science actually functions from inside one of its most complex environments.
Drawing on decades of experience in high-energy physics, including her work on the experiments that led to the discovery of the Higgs boson, Sharma describes collaboration not as abstract cooperation, but as a structured system built on logistics, governance, negotiation, and trust. She explains how large scientific projects depend on reliability and interdependence as much as intellectual contribution, and why progress often hinges on patience and credibility rather than breakthrough alone.
The conversation also examines how scientific collaboration operates across unequal systems of funding and access, and how trust rather than equipment or infrastructure is often the decisive factor in participation. Sharma discusses the challenges of recognition in collaborations involving thousands of contributors, the role of leadership in aligning institutions with different capacities, and how scientific work is embedded within political, financial, and cultural constraints.
Throughout, she frames large-scale science as a form of science diplomacy in practice — an ongoing process of maintaining cooperation across generations, institutions, and national interests. She argues that such systems require continuous negotiation and shared commitment, and that their success depends on long-term investment not only in infrastructure, but in relationships.
Themes covered:
Large-scale scientific collaboration as a structured system
Trust, credibility, and interdependence in global science
The distinction between collaboration and science diplomacy
Inequality in access, participation, and recognition
Leadership and negotiation across institutions
Science as a bridge across geopolitical and cultural divides
Recorded on March 23, 2026.
Co-hosted by Amna Habiba, Bupe Chikumbi and John Heilprin.
