International Research Collaboration - GlobalHigherEd

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5UK universities’ management and organisation ofinternational research collaboration165.1 Survey and interviewsWe ran an online survey directed to the vicechancellorsand principals of 150 universitiesand higher education colleges, and obtained 86responses. We carried out follow-up interviewswith twenty pro-vice-chancellors and researchdirectors at a wide range of institutions todeepen our understanding.While pro-vice-chancellors were content torespond to our survey, confirming the timelinessand importance of the topic, we found thatrespondents were rather more diffident when itcame to representing their institution as any kindof exemplar. For most, this was an importantjourney that they have only recently embarkedupon.5.2 Policy and strategyThe survey suggests that there is an almostuniversal commitment across UK highereducation institutions to expanding theirinternational research collaboration, withalmost all respondents (94 per cent) confirmingthat it is currently an active aim of theirinstitution to develop such collaboration.Almost all (94 per cent) are actively trying toincrease the volume of research collaboration,with around two-thirds targeting institution-levelcollaboration on specific disciplines andcountries, which in practice means thematicpartnerships with one or more institutions in agiven country.Follow-up interviews revealed an importantdistinction between two classes of internationalresearch collaboration, with most peopledistinguishing institution-level strategicpartnerships from researcher-levelcollaboration. The latter is reported to accountfor the great majority of total activity and isdriven by individuals’ own research interests andambitions, where international engagement isan integral part of being a research professional.Respondents see their duty here as beingfacilitative, for the most part simply providinggeneric support and ad hoc advice to individualsand research groups. For most, this bottom-upapproach increasingly coexists with a morestrategic, institutional perspective. It seems thatmany UK universities already have a smallnumber of strategic research partnerships,institution-to-institution, with overseasuniversities or research groups, motivated by thedesire to sustain or improve the institution’sresearch capability and international standing orreputation. As the University of Birmingham’sinternational strategy comments:“Internationalisation in itself isn’t ‘new,’ butwhat is new is the way in which institutions,and now towns, cities and government, areengaging with the international agenda morestrategically and with more operationalclarity.” 18It is also clear that most of these institution-levelrelationships began with educationalprogrammes, ranging from double mastersdegrees to international summer schools andmajor recruitment campaigns. However, there isclearly a growing interest in researchcollaboration, more narrowly:“Launched in April 2005, the strategy of theUniversity of Edinburgh’s China Office is toenhance the University's profile through thedevelopment of research and educationallinks with high-ranking Chinese institutions.Through these links and public awareness ofthe university’s reputation, Edinburgh hasdeveloped a good relationship with variousfellow prestigious universities and academicinstitutions, such as Peking University,Tsinghua University, Fudan University,Beihang University, Beijing Film Academy,Xiamen University, Nankai University, ChinaAgriculture University, in fields as diverse ase-science, engineering, life and medicalsciences, arts and culture” 19 .“Columbia University and the London Schoolof Economics (LSE) have a formalcollaboration at the institutional level, and ourtwo anthropology departments already havean ongoing program for collaboration andexchange. At both the institutional anddepartmental levels, Columbia and the LSEshare a number of areas of expertise andinterest. For example, our anthropologydepartments have substantial shared regionalexpertise in South Asia and East Asia, as wellas expertise on the themes of globalisation,nationalism, and gender. And yet there arealso significant differences between thedepartments and institutions – in approachesto anthropology, in undergraduate andpostgraduate teaching programs, inadministrative framework, and so forth. Weconsider these to be areas that provide scopefor a genuine collaboration between partners,as well as an opportunity to evaluate theeffectiveness of these educational tools in twodistinct and yet closely related learningenvironments” 20 .
“Forging scientific links with othersynchrotrons across the world has been animportant element of Diamond’s work thisyear. During 2006 Diamond Light Source hassigned a number of memoranda ofunderstanding with international facilities. On20 February 2006, during the China-UK N+NWorkshop on Synchrotron Science inShanghai, Diamond signed a memorandum ofunderstanding with the Shanghai SynchrotronRadiation Facility/Shanghai Institute of AppliedPhysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences” 21 .“India is a huge focus for Leeds MetropolitanUniversity and our Northern Film School, andwe have strived to establish strong links to theIndian Film Academy (IIFA) and Bollywood. Ourmotive is a blend of enterprise (3rd stream),education and practice-led research andconsulting. Research collaboration is not a bigpart of what we do, however it is an increasinglyimportant part of the mix; we are just about toestablish two academic chairs, the IIFA Chairfor Global Cinema, and an India 60 Chaircelebrating 60 years of Indian independence.The infrastructure, relationships and insightgained through the work with India and the IIFAhas been used as a platform for ongoing effortsto develop a strategic collaboration with SriLanka (Colombo, High Commission, BritishCouncil) around ‘responsible tourism” 22 .There is widespread commitment to becomingmore strategic, which is not to say thatinstitutions are seeking to switch modes frombottom-up to top-down, but rather to do a betterjob of operating a hybrid model. The surveyfound that only a few universities presently havean international research collaboration strategy(13 per cent), although it revealed that asignificant majority has plans to develop such astrategy in the near future (65 per cent). An evengreater proportion (91 per cent) stated that theybelieved their university would benefit frommanaging international research collaborationin a more strategic fashion. Follow-up interviewsrevealed that many of these strategies areinternational strategies and not internationalresearch collaboration strategies per se, anddeal with the internationalisation of the entirespectrum of higher education activities,including research. In many cases, internationalresearch is addressed as both means and ends:research of international significance used as ameans by which to compete with other UK andoverseas higher education institutions for thebest researchers and research students;international collaboration as a means by whichto secure and sustain research capability ofinternational standing.Exhibit 6Institute of Education’sinternationalisationstrategy (2005-2008)Strategic objectives for the Institute’s international workThe overall aim of the strategy is to secure the Institute’s position asa global leader in the field of education and related areas of socialscience and professional practice.Its objectives are as follows:p The generation and dissemination of knowledge that recognises adiversity of contexts and is informed by the Institute’s commitmentto truth and justice;p The promotion of international, intercultural and comparativeapproaches to Institute activity;p The achievement of market leadership in terms of attractingstudents from outside the UK to study education and related areas;p The achievement of a significant increase in the income generatedthrough research and third stream work with an internationalorientation.Source: Extract from the International Strategy of the Institute ofEducation at the University of London (2005)A minority said that their international researchcollaboration strategy was being developed aspart of the institution’s wider research strategy.The documents encompass a number of facets,including the institution’s international researchstanding (and monitoring thereof), itsrecruitment of talented researchers, support forshort overseas visits for younger researchers,and the pursuit of international researchcollaborations in areas of particular importanceto the institution.The survey and interviews suggest that overallinstitutions no longer feel that it is quite enoughto leave things to individual researchers and thatthe realisation of their more general institutionalobjectives is more likely if some consciousdecisions are made centrally about the creationof international partnerships in particular fields,and even with specific institutions.Universities UKInternational research collaboration 17
Page 1: Research reportInternational resear
Page 8: 3Trends and benefits of internation
Page 13 and 14: 3.3 Motives and benefitsThe desk re
Page 17: Exhibit 4 presents the results of t
Page 21: 5.4 OrganisationWhile there is no s
Page 24 and 25: p Several interviewees stated that
Page 26 and 27: 6ConclusionIn conclusion, there is
Page 28 and 29: Appendix B:International research o
Page 30 and 31: International Research Office, Oslo
Page 32 and 33: The Office of International Researc
Page 35 and 36: NotesSectionA head1 Jonathan Adams

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