Developing a body of knowledge for the management of large-scale international science projects

Large-scale International Science Projects (LISPs) are different from conventional projects for which the body of knowledge in project management has been developed. LISPS can be defined as those projects where two or more countries formally agree to cooperate toward the achievement of a scientific, research and development, or engineering goal. In general only projects exceeding $1 billion US are considered LISPs. Agreements among participants typically cover several years and work is accomplished in stages, characterized by formal agreements. In addition the partners contribute hardware components, funds and/or personnel to the project. This paper introduces a preliminary study that identifies how these projects differ from conventional projects, why conventional approaches may be inadequate, and how these differences might affect project management practices.