Research Sans Frontieres? the effects of funding schemes on international research collaboration

Abstract

Collaborating with international researchers is particularly important for small and middle-range countries, such as Australia, that cannot source all of their science and technology needs domestically. However, a major influence on international research collaboration-national research funding councils-has largely been ignored within the literature. Past research has either taken a social constructivist approach to influences on knowledge and downplayed influences such as research councils, or examined research councils' role in the research system, but has given little attention to their effects at the level of the researcher. Bibliometric studies dominate investigations on international research collaboration, but these cannot reveal insights into the internal dynamics of research collaborations. Consequently, little is empirically known about how funding schemes affect international research collaboration. This study bridges the gap between analysis of the sociology of science and science policy studies by contributing to a middle-range theory about the effects of institutions on international research collaboration. Using comparative case studies, this thesis identifies the social mechanisms through which funding schemes affect international research collaboration. Researchers supported through the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council's (NHMRC's) major funding schemes of Program and Project grants were compared with those supported through three of this Council's schemes specifically aimed at supporting international research collaboration; the Human Frontier Science Program grants, the International Collaborative Research Grants scheme and the NHMRC's European (EU) Framework Programme Partnership Scheme. Despite international research collaboration being a normal way of working, few of the conditions for the four types of international research collaboration identified in this study are supported by the NHMRC's two major funding schemes. Health researchers in Australia are highly dependent on external funds-particularly those from the NHMRC, as this is the only major national source of external funds. This thesis argues that because of this dependency and because of the lack of support for the necessary conditions for international research collaborations, researchers engaging in international research collaborations have to employ a number of strategies. These strategies affect the conduct and content of research. Working with international researchers enables Australian researchers to access the world's best knowledge. However, most Australian researchers have to conduct international research collaborations through the NHMRC's Program and Project Grants Schemes, and, as a result, limit with whom they work and how they work with international collaborators. This thesis contributes to a middle-range theory by identifying the range of types of international research collaboration, the conditions associated with each of these types, the response of researchers according to the level of support of these conditions, and the subsequent effects on research. By providing the conditions for international research collaboration, researchers can fully engage in state-of-the-art knowledge, wherever it is in the world. This access is critical to a country's success in the global knowledge economy. -- provided by Candidate. Show more