The group's principal investigator, Dale Sayers, referring to himself as the team's "spokesperson and nominal leader," says he guides the group as a facilitator, rather than a scientific autocrat.
Known casually as the "Sayers-PRT" (for Sayers, of North Carolina State University and Participating Research Team, the term used to describe NSLS collaborations), the team, well-known in synchrotron research circles for its work in superconductivity, functions as a collection of equals. "A committee of the whole sets general policy and direction," says Sayers, whose managerial style is decidedly low-key.
In addition to providing a unique social atmosphere, the NSLS environment allows unusual collaborations, intermingling academic, industrial, and government scientists who are otherwise unaccustomed to working in situations that facilitate such cooperation and allow for both proprietary and nonproprietary research. "The Sayers team has forged a lot of alliances," says Michael Knotek, chairman of NSLS. Indeed, it has even fostered collaboration between ...
