How many times have you tried to repeat an experiment from a publication and found critical information missing or that the experiment doesn’t work in your hands? Most major funding agencies have recognized that issues with reproducibility and repeatability are seriously limiting both the translation and the sharing of research knowledge. How can we tackle these challenges as researchers in both academia and industry? This AVS e-Talk will use examples from the world of biomaterials to explore some of the challenges and approaches that should be considered when designing reproducible and repeatable experiments. It will look at the rise of methods and protocol libraries, common characterization standards, as well as the role journal authors and reviewers play in ensuring that our scientific records contain the materials needed to reproduce experiments and interpret data correctly. This talk will be suitable for everyone who is interested in research integrity or answering the question, why doesn’t this work for me?

Sally L. McArthur is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology and a CSIRO Research+ Science Leader. The focus of Sally’s research is on interfacing biology with technology. She uses surface engineering strategies of plasma polymerisation, wet chemistry and microfabrication to create new biomaterials. Her work also links ultrahigh vacuum surface chemical characterisation tools with metrology and biological assays to investigate and optimise materials and systems for medical, biotechnology, food and environmental applications. Her laboratories host the Australian National Fabrication Facilities (ANFF) Biointerface Engineering Hub, an open access facility for researchers and industry to access expert surface engineering capabilities. Sally has been the Editor of the AVS journal Biointerphases since December, 2017, and prior to this she was an Associate Eeditor for two years.