The aim of this study was to examine the potential benefits of multidisciplinarity among agri-food researchers working in small groups to generate ideas to stimulate innovation in the context of a laboratory project.

Research on the role of multidisciplinarity in scientific research teams remains limited, particularly regarding the generation of ideas to innovate in a real laboratory project, and on a task with a real challenge for innovation.

Researchers and agri-food research staff were assigned to small groups of either multidisciplinary or unidisciplinary composition to produce ideas on a cross-cutting theme for an innovative laboratory project using an electronic "brainwriting" application.

A greater depth in idea generation (number of ideas per category) was observed in the multidisciplinary condition than in the unidisciplinary condition.

The main benefits of this study were to experimentally examine the effects of multidisciplinarity in small scientific research groups on the production of ideas in a field study conducted on the premises of an agri-food laboratory.

This study provides advice on how to promote innovative projects by stimulating ideation processes, which includes constructing small multidisciplinary groups and using an electronic "brainwriting" technique.

Postdoctoral researchers (postdocs) are an essential component of the scientific workforce in German universities and research institutions and play a vital role in advancing knowledge and innovation. However, the experiences of postdocs and other early career researchers (ECRs) indicate that working conditions pose a significant challenge to the pursuit of a long-term research career in Germany-particularly for international scientists and those from marginalized groups. We examine how unstable working conditions as well as insufficient structural support for equal opportunities and diversity are significant obstacles for the career development of ECRs in German academia. We discuss these issues with the aid of an extensive survey recently conducted and published by PostdocNet, a target-group network representing the interests of postdocs across Germany's Max Planck Society. The survey drew responses from 659 postdoctoral researchers working at the Max Planck Society and represents one of the few datasets of postdoctoral researchers' perspectives in Germany. Building on these findings, we suggest actions at governmental, institutional, and individual levels to improve the working conditions of postdoctoral researchers in Germany.

Numerous studies have examined the effects of gender diversity in groups on creative performance, and no clear effect has been identified. Findings depend on situational cues making gender diversity more or less salient in groups. A large-scale study on two cohorts (N = 2,261) was conducted among business students to examine the impact of the gender diversity in small groups on divergent thinking in an idea-generation task performed by synchronous electronic brainstorming. Participants were automatically randomized in three- or four-member groups to generate ideas during 10 min on a gendered or neutral task. Then, five categories of groups where the proportion of men/women in groups varied from three/four men to three/four women were compared to examine creative performance on three divergent thinking measures (fluency, flexibility, and originality). A Multivariate Generalized Linear Mixed Model (mGLMM) showed greater fluency in all-women groups than in other groups (except mixed-gender groups composed of two men and two women), and more specifically "solo" groups composed of a single woman/man among a majority of men/women. For flexibility and originality, the superiority of all-women groups was found only in comparison to "solo" groups composed of a single woman. As gender differences are more salient in "solo" groups than in other groups faultlines may appear in groups, leading to a deleterious impact on creative performance.

Can diversity make for better science? Although diversity has ethical and political value, arguments for its epistemic value require a bridge between normative and mechanistic considerations, demonstrating why and how diversity benefits collective intelligence. However, a major hurdle is that the benefits themselves are rather mixed: Quantitative evidence from psychology and behavioral sciences sometimes shows a positive epistemic effect of diversity, but often shows a null effect, or even a negative effect. Here we argue that to make progress with these why and how questions, we need first to rethink when one ought to expect a benefit of cognitive diversity. In doing so, we highlight that the benefits of cognitive diversity are not equally distributed about collective intelligence tasks and are best seen for complex, multistage, creative problem solving, during problem posing and hypothesis generation. Throughout, we additionally outline a series of mechanisms relating diversity and problem complexity, and show how this perspective can inform metascience questions.

Transactive memory refers to the way people in close relationships use each other's memories as extensions of their own to improve their collaborative performance. Although pioneer research has been conducted among close couples, no studies have examined the effects of the cultural composition of couples on transactive memory. The goal of this study was to extend research about the positive impact of cultural diversity on team performance to mixed- (French-Moroccan) and same-culture couples (French-French, Moroccan-Moroccan). Thirty heterosexual couples aged from 22 to 55 years (M = 42.25 years and SD = 8.15) performed a culture-based memory game with cards depicting French and Moroccan culture. The order in which the pairs of cards was found is thought to reflect the efficiency of transactive memory. Results revealed that collective performance was better in mixed French-Moroccan couples than in same-culture couples but only for the French culture cards. These findings suggest that cultural diversity in couples has an impact on transactive memory and should be taken into consideration.