Abstract
This paper analyzes interactions on the public-access online Forum of the Human Brain Project (HBP), a major European Union-funded neuroscience research initiative, to understand the utility of the Forum for collaborative problem solving. We construct novel data using online posts and detailed user profiles on the Forum, plus proprietary and public sources. We find that post-level HBP Forum utilization is comparable to that of a leading general-interest coding platform, and online usage metrics quickly recover after an initial Covid-19-related dip. Regression results show that user interactions on the Forum are more active for programming questions, and questions in HBP core areas. Further, Cox proportional hazard analyses show that such problems are solved faster. In contrast, discussions involving more users and users from different countries do not directly translate to faster problem solving. Our results suggest that building novel online collaborative Forum can support researchers working on complex topics in challenging times; further study is needed to understand the cost effectiveness of the institution.
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