Scientific creativity is defined as the production of novel scientific facts, methods, theories, explanations, and instruments, as well as the entire process by which these novel facts, theories, explanations and instruments are generated. There have ...
Scientific creativity is defined as the production of novel scientific facts, methods, theories, explanations, and instruments, as well as the entire process by which these novel facts, theories, explanations and instruments are generated. There have been many studies on scientific creativity, but there were few studies on the scientific creativity of a research team collaborating in laboratory settings. This paper aims to find the elements that constitute the creativity of a laboratory through empirical participant observation and theoretical analysis of RNA Biology Lab in Seoul National University - a lab which is considered to be the most creative laboratory in Korea. Creative accomplishments demand not just a sudden inspiration but also a complicated and continuous evolutionary process which requires a systematic division of labor and a corporation between researchers who have diverse knowledges and capabilities. Also, this paper shows that laboratory culture and leadership are an important factor for vitalizing the corporative structure of the laboratory.