Interdisciplinary teams conducting science may experience disruptive events. These disruptive events may be internal or external to the team and have attributes of criticality, urgency, and duration (Morgeson & DeRue, 2006) and temporal considerations (Morgeson et al., 2015) that can affect team effectiveness and team science outcomes. In this context, team disruption can be described as a misalignment of team member coordination relative to task demands due to shifts in coordination, task demands, or both (Strizver & Ployhart, 2024).

This paper examines the demands of research funders as particular types of external disruptive events within an organizational context and examines their impact on team dynamics and effectiveness. Research funders who are responsible for resource allocation have begun to take on facilitative roles related to the implementation of research (Brantnell et al., 2015), and funder-initiated changes, often related to these new roles, may challenge research team activities and resemble threats experienced with other types of organizational disruptions. The ability to adapt to funder demands involves significant analysis and adjustment by the team that may affect their effectiveness over time. Event System Theory (EST), which posits that events become salient when they are novel, disruptive, and critical (Morgeson et al., 2015), provides a way to examine disruptive funder events. Using an EST framework to examine organizational change in scientific teams allows researchers to qualify the type of event and shift the focus of study from static to dynamic events that shape team behaviors and processes over time.

We applied an EST lens to a case study of a large, interdisciplinary, government-funded, multi-system team to examine several funder-initiated events that challenged and ultimately changed the organizational structure and work of the team while influencing team dynamics, collaboration, transactive memory, and psychological safety. The study combined qualitative (semi-structured interviews and document analysis) and quantitative (survey) methods, enabling a picture to emerge of the impact of the disruptors and how the team developed resiliency to bounce back, deliver project milestones, and meet project goals amidst changing funder expectations, resources, and deadlines. Funder demands necessitated significant changes within the scientific team in strategy, structure, and operations, requiring shifts in resource allocation and priorities and influencing fundamental team goals, organization, and ways of working. The paper will provide insights for teams and funders alike on mitigating disruption and how to learn and grow during and following disruptive events.