Forming Teams

Finding a Team

Before seeking a team, it is essential to have a clear idea of your research interests. A shared interest in the competition's subject matter is the foundation of a motivated team. For example, you should first identify a competition or dataset that genuinely interests you, such as BirdCLEF for avian bioacoustics or CheckThat! for fact-checking language models.

You can find teammates through the primary ARC Interest Group, within your academic courses (e.g., Deep Learning, Machine Learning), or on community platforms like the OMSCS Slack and the Ed Research Board.

Team Structure and Roles

Once a group with a shared research interest is formed, the first step is to establish a clear structure and define roles.

Team Lead

The Team Lead acts as the primary facilitator and organizer. This role is not necessarily the lead researcher but is responsible for the team's operational integrity. Key responsibilities include coordinating regular team meetings at a cadence that works for all members, ensuring all members are aware of competition deadlines and rules, serving as the main liaison between the team and the broader ARC organization, and taking ultimate responsibility for ensuring that final submissions are completed correctly and on time.

Team Member

Team members are the core contributors to the research project. All members are expected to be active participants. Key responsibilities include actively contributing ideas, code, and text for the final paper, allocating a significant amount of time to the project (estimated at 100-150 hours over the semester, roughly equivalent to a 3-unit course), engaging with the team on a regular basis with a minimum of once per week recommended, and being transparent about capacity while communicating early if unable to continue.

Communication and Collaboration Tools

For group communication, teams will use the main Data Science at Georgia Tech Slack for organization-wide news and can create private channels or use Microsoft Teams or Discord for internal discussion. Collaborative writing should be done using Overleaf for LaTeX or Google Docs for other documents. All code must be version-controlled using GitHub, with repositories hosted in the official Data Science at Georgia Tech ARC GitHub organization.

Conflict Resolution and Team Dynamics

Proactively manage team dynamics by setting clear expectations at the project's start regarding communication, workload, and standards. It is important to maintain professional empathy, recognizing that all participants are managing other commitments. Grant grace for unforeseen circumstances, but also hold team members accountable for their commitments. Should conflicts arise that cannot be resolved internally, teams should utilize available resources by seeking guidance from experienced members or ARC group leadership. Ultimately, consistent, early, and clear communication is the most effective tool for preventing and resolving team conflicts.