Advances in the Development and Application of Large Scale Experimental Methods in Earthquake Engineering through the EU FP7 SERIES Project

The EU Framework 7 project, SERIES, is enabling a large number of earthquake engineering researchers from across Europe to collaborate in the investigation of a wide range of leading edge problems. Such collaborations are only possible through an integrating Infrastructures project, such as SERIES, which can draw together many strands of world class research. At the heart of SERIES is the notion of building and sustaining a strong earthquake engineering research and practitioner community in Europe. This paper reflects on the philosophy and process of collaborative research within SERIES as experienced at Bristol, setting this within a cognitive psychology framework, and illustrating how awareness of the ongoing fundamental learning process leads to (i) effective team collaborations, (ii) effectively focused and purposeful projects, and (iii) valuable scientific and community building outcomes.