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Main Authors: Oyama, Satoshi, Sakurai, Yuko, Kashima, Hisashi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.03780
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author Oyama, Satoshi
Sakurai, Yuko
Kashima, Hisashi
author_facet Oyama, Satoshi
Sakurai, Yuko
Kashima, Hisashi
contents Scientific discovery still relies heavily on the manual efforts of individual researchers, leading to limited exploration, redundant trials, and reduced reproducibility. Human-participant data analysis competitions generate diverse approaches, yet fluctuations in participation and the lack of independent repetitions show that parallel exploration alone is insufficient for achieving reliable scientific inquiry. As advanced AI agents based on large language models (LLMs) increasingly perform analytical tasks, relying on a single highly capable agent is unlikely to overcome these structural limitations. Recent work has begun to explore how multiple LLM-based agents can collaborate or compete in scientific workflows-a growing trend we refer to as MA4Science. However, most existing MA4Science studies assume that all agents are controlled by a single organizational entity, limiting their ability to examine how institutional mechanisms-such as incentives, information sharing, and reproducibility-shape collective exploration among independently managed agents. To address this gap, we introduce MACC (Multi-Agent Collaborative Competition), an institutional architecture that integrates a blackboard-style shared scientific workspace with incentive mechanisms designed to encourage transparency, reproducibility, and exploration efficiency. MACC provides a testbed for studying how institutional design influences scalable and reliable multi-agent scientific exploration.
format Preprint
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publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle MACC: Multi-Agent Collaborative Competition for Scientific Exploration
Oyama, Satoshi
Sakurai, Yuko
Kashima, Hisashi
Multiagent Systems
Artificial Intelligence
Scientific discovery still relies heavily on the manual efforts of individual researchers, leading to limited exploration, redundant trials, and reduced reproducibility. Human-participant data analysis competitions generate diverse approaches, yet fluctuations in participation and the lack of independent repetitions show that parallel exploration alone is insufficient for achieving reliable scientific inquiry. As advanced AI agents based on large language models (LLMs) increasingly perform analytical tasks, relying on a single highly capable agent is unlikely to overcome these structural limitations. Recent work has begun to explore how multiple LLM-based agents can collaborate or compete in scientific workflows-a growing trend we refer to as MA4Science. However, most existing MA4Science studies assume that all agents are controlled by a single organizational entity, limiting their ability to examine how institutional mechanisms-such as incentives, information sharing, and reproducibility-shape collective exploration among independently managed agents. To address this gap, we introduce MACC (Multi-Agent Collaborative Competition), an institutional architecture that integrates a blackboard-style shared scientific workspace with incentive mechanisms designed to encourage transparency, reproducibility, and exploration efficiency. MACC provides a testbed for studying how institutional design influences scalable and reliable multi-agent scientific exploration.
title MACC: Multi-Agent Collaborative Competition for Scientific Exploration
topic Multiagent Systems
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.03780