Lessons Learned from the APS/TFI Workshop on University/Science Center Collaborations: Outreach Strategies for Faculty Working with their Local Science Museum

On May 31 -- June 1, 2008, The Franklin Institute (TFI) hosted the American Physical Society/Franklin Institute Workshop on University/Science Center Collaborations. This Workshop brought together forty leaders from science centers, universities, and federal funding agencies to explore what works and what doesn't work in university-science center collaborations. The goal was to explore the outreach motivations of academic institutions, their scientists and students, the characteristics and needs of small vs. large science centers, and the goals for and outcomes expected from reaching out to the general public from the perspectives of universities and science centers. The result was a convergence of viewpoints on how a good collaboration is established, built upon, sustained, and evaluated.