International Collaborations in Research

A short post this week, as I prepare to go away for the Christmas holidays after today. I attended a conference this week, which was about how the UK can foster productive international research partnerships. There are two things that stay with me. 

The first is the three 'pillars' that the Keynote Speaker the Earl of Kinnoull (Chair, House of Lords European Union Select Committee) described as being necessary to support international partnerships from a UK perspective. They are:

• The necessity of visa arrangements that support researcher mobility, and concerns that in the current political climate, visas were becoming conflated with immigration.
• The strength of the legal system in the UK, that courts were just and fair, enabling research to be defended.
• Good private equity systems that can monetise research.

Two things struck me about this list. First, the high-level nature of it, and my sudden understanding of the relationship between Government, law and money. Second, the high-stakes political gamble to 'stop the boats' being taken by the Government, and its real-world impact on visa arrangements that support international research collaborations in the UK. Finally, I realised some discomfort (and perhaps some naivety) about the reality of the entanglement of private equity structures and some kinds of research.

I tried to find a way through the high-level strategic focus to think about what this all might mean for me and those I work with in my day to day work. This came in the form of Jonathan Adams (Chief Scientist, ISI; Vice President, Consulting, Clarivate and Visiting Professor, Policy Institute at King’s College, London), who proposed that something that directly impacts upon researcher mobility (from the UK to elsewhere) is that many researchers for whom English is their first language, are not sufficiently competent in a second language to engage in productive and successful international partnerships. He gave the example of the very low numbers of UK researchers that speak Mandarin, putting them at a distinct disadvantage compared to Chinese collaborators who speak English.

I then became curious about whether or not any universities in the UK offer language courses to academics. I was unable to find any. I then explored whether universities provided any kind of international preparation programmes (much like the private sector would do when sending staff overseas) and again, could not find anything. It occurred to me, when discussing this with my colleague and friend, Dr Jacquie Ridge (Co-convenor with me of the Non-Traditional Research Methods Network) that language learning is as important for social scientists, and those working in the Arts and Humanities as it is for scientists. How does a researcher fully understand and embrace others' lived experiences without understanding the role of language in constructing reality?

If international, interdisciplinary research collaborations are the direction of travel - as the conference suggested - then it is time to consider how academics are prepared for this direction of travel, by drawing upon the expertise of those who have years of experience and can share it with others. I think there is scope too to think of new ways of approaching this. For example, has Duolingo (the language learning app) ever partnered with a university to offer researchers free 'Super' Duolingo licenses? Now that the Duolingo English test is accepted by so many institutions for international student entry to UG and PGT and PGR programmes, this would seem to be the next step! Something to explore in the New Year...

The accompanying image that accompanies this post suggests I am ready for a break! It has been a busy few weeks.