From instrumentation to astrophysics: a journey in collaborative science

Over the past decades, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory project brought together scientists and engineers from a diverse set of sub-fields for the common goal of making the first direct detection of gravitational waves. A wide variety of expertise in different areas of physics, astrophysics, and engineering had to be established within the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and in the international community in order to facilitate the construction of the gravitational-wave detectors and the exploitation of the collected data for astrophysics. The gravitational-wave field is diversifying in another front: women, who contributed to building instrumentation and to understanding the collected data, provide a positive example that is critical to attracting more women to physical sciences. The role of women in international collaborative work will be discussed through personal experience.