To be blunt, I don’t know how to get better at the social side of science. There are many facets:

Starting a collaboration: getting people to realize you’re very interested in their work and they should be interested in yours, then making the logical leap that you should work together. OR recognizing that you have a strength paired with a deficiency that matches someone else, and seeing if you can work together on it.

Maintaining scientific connections. Collaborations don’t come from nothing, they are usually born from social connections, which need social maintenance like any other. I’m ok at introducing myself, but not good at maintaining connections.

Mentor/mentee. I want to be a good mentor, but don’t know how to put myself out there. I know I need to be a good mentee, but I don’t know how to find people to help me with what I don’t know.

Often times I realize I’m not living up to my own expectations and so I slink further and further into ignoring all social obligations because I don’t want to do them since I know I’ll do them badly. I need to break out of this if I’m going to succeed at science.