tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/research-collaboration-24781/articles
Research collaboration – The Conversation
2024-02-26T13:29:57Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/223983
2024-02-26T13:29:57Z
2024-02-26T13:29:57Z
South Africa’s apartheid legacy is still hobbling research – a study of geography shows how
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576988/original/file-20240221-30-sh4e18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Inequalities persist in the field of academic human geography.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">erhui1979</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Knowledge matters. It informs how we think about the world around us. It informs our decisions and government policies, supporting economic growth and development. </p>
<p>Knowledge is also power. Certain types of knowledge <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2020.1775487">are given more value than others</a>. This is driven by histories of privilege. In South Africa, apartheid looms large <a href="https://www.nb.co.za/en/view-book?id=9780624088547">in debates</a> about how knowledge is produced. Though it formally ended 30 years ago, it still influences whose knowledge is considered “right” and whose is sidelined.</p>
<p>And this matters in everyday lives. For instance, health and medical research and instruction used to focus on white and male bodies. This has <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03325-z#:%7E:text=Throughout%20history%2C%20racism%20and%20biases,Disease%20itself%2C%20has%20been%20racialised">directly affected</a> the provision and quality of healthcare. </p>
<p>Crucially, control over the production of knowledge provides political, economic and social power. This has real effects on education, healthcare, social policy and service delivery. </p>
<p>In a recent research paper we <a href="https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tran.12640">studied</a> how apartheid legacies continue to affect the work of universities in South Africa. In particular we looked at the outputs of the discipline of <a href="https://geographical.co.uk/science-environment/geo-explainer-what-is-human-geography">human geography</a>, which is our specialisation. It’s the study of how space and time influence economic, social, political and cultural actions. </p>
<p>We found that universities that were historically more advantaged – that is, they served mostly white students – continue to outpace the country’s other institutions in terms of research output. This was true for quantity and quality of publication outputs in journal articles and academic books and chapters. </p>
<p>Our findings show that apartheid’s legacy continues to affect academic output. This suggests that not enough has been done to address inequalities around funding, networking and opportunities for international collaboration. It means that South Africa’s academic landscape continues to reflect the views of a privileged few.</p>
<p>We examined what drove these disparities, and identified strategies to begin shifting the dial.</p>
<h2>Historical background</h2>
<p>The history of South African human geography as a discipline is inextricably linked with colonialism. It was heavily influenced by conservative religious ideas and <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315600635-3/social-change-re-radicalization-geography-south-africa-brij-maharaj-maano-ramutsindela">notions of racial superiority</a>. And <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03736245.2016.1220545">during the apartheid era</a> topics were deliberately studied with a notional “non-political” focus, or research was used to support apartheid legislation.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/colonial-legacies-shape-urban-nature-why-this-should-change-156334">Colonial legacies shape urban nature: why this should change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>In the 1970s some research began to emerge about how apartheid policies affected Black communities. This was a first. Research had largely <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030913258100500201">toed the apartheid government’s line</a> and not focused on the deleterious effects of segregation and oppression. </p>
<p>But, overall, universities either served white or “non-white” students. White universities were well-resourced while others were not.</p>
<p>After 1994, South Africa’s human geographers turned to policy-relevant work as the country embarked on building a democracy. They began to support post-apartheid priorities related to the economy, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0376835042000325697">small business</a> and spatial development.</p>
<h2>The same dominant hierarchies</h2>
<p>The transition from apartheid led to the opening of South African universities. The racial make-up of institutions began to change. And South African academics began re-engaging with global academia after isolationist apartheid policies were lifted and international boycotts ended.</p>
<p>However, clear resourcing differences and hierarchies remain between <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.52779/9781990995057/04">(historically) advantaged and disadvantaged institutions</a>. Consequently, the discipline remains dominated by a handful of departments. Their dominance is maintained by income generation (student fees, publication income, grants), networks – and prestige. </p>
<p>Our research shows that academics from historically disadvantaged institutions feel removed from these global and national networks.</p>
<p>We found a significant concentration of research outputs among a few (historically) advantaged institutions. This allows them to generate research income and mobilise international collaborations to fund larger projects. That allows academics to take on lighter teaching loads. And that gives them more time to conduct and publish research. </p>
<p>International collaborators are drawn by these institutions’ reputations, histories and resources. It’s easier for academics to visit international universities and participate in international funding applications. Such institutions are also able to support young human geography academics and encourage greater publication outputs in ways that under-resourced and small departments struggle to match.</p>
<p>Human geographers at historically advantaged universities have mobilised international networks to appoint overseas academics to honorary positions. These moves boost the institutions’ publication outputs – and their income from <a href="https://www.dhet.gov.za/SitePages/University%20Research%20Support%20and%20Policy%20Development.aspx">government subsidies and incentives</a>.</p>
<p>As one interviewee described it, the cycle of opportunity and prestige for historically advantaged institutions leaves</p>
<blockquote>
<p>historically Black institutions always on the back foot … the playing ground is not levelled.</p>
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<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>These challenges could be addressed in several ways. One approach might be for more resourced universities to support historically disadvantaged institutions in developing contacts, networks and strategic policies to attract and appoint visiting research fellows. This would open up opportunities for funding. That, ultimately, will lead to more research and knowledge being produced.</p>
<p>Many of our interviewees said that more collaboration was needed between historically advantaged and historically disadvantaged institutions. This should be encouraged. Human geographers from historically disadvantaged universities must be consulted about what kinds of support they need, rather than ideas being imposed by those from well-resourced institutions.</p>
<p>Other priorities could include stronger mentoring for early- and mid-career staff. Training is crucial, too, to develop skills in journal and grant writing. Even something as simple as institutions updating online staff profiles would be valuable. This helps to promote individuals’ research interests. It also supports network building and collaborations. </p>
<p>Perhaps, most of all, there’s a need – as one interviewee told us – to push for difficult conversations about inequalities and shortcomings to “shed light on what is missing”.</p>
<p>Ultimately, commitment is required to realise a more ethical South African human geography. The government, universities, and individual academics all have a role to play in fostering inclusion and collaboration that work beyond historical inequalities. This will help to make the sub-discipline more robust and cutting edge. And that’s ultimately beneficial to academics, students and the country at large.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223983/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The cycle of opportunity and prestige for historically advantaged institutions leaves historically Black institutions on the back foot.
Gijsbert Hoogendoorn, Professor in Tourism Geography, University of Johannesburg
Daniel Hammett, Senior Lecturer in Political and Development Geography, University of Sheffield
Mukovhe Masutha, Senior Research Fellow, University of Johannesburg
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/196473
2023-03-22T12:39:31Z
2023-03-22T12:39:31Z
Building better brain collaboration online – despite scientific squabbles, the decade-long Human Brain Project brought measurable success to neuroscience collaboration
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515898/original/file-20230316-1755-h1n8e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2101%2C1427&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bringing scientific research online can help improve collaboration to a degree. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/image-of-people-walking-in-a-high-speed-data-space-royalty-free-image/1349695388">Hiroshi Watanabe/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent years have seen both impressive <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3578">advances in computational technologies and neuroscience</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00395-3">increasing prevalence of mental disorders</a>. These forces sparked the launch of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.4371">brain science initiatives</a> worldwide. In the past decade, a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-brain-race-can-giant-computers-map-the-mind-12342">brain race</a>” between Europe, <a href="https://theconversation.com/illuminating-the-brain-one-neuron-and-synapse-at-a-time-5-essential-reads-about-how-researchers-are-using-new-tools-to-map-its-structure-and-function-187607">the U.S.</a>, Israel, Japan and China has taken off with the goal of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-science-of-big-science">understanding human brain function</a>.</p>
<p>One of the earliest brain initiatives was the 10-year, 1 billion-euro (US$1.33 billion in 2013) <a href="https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/en/about/overview/">Human Brain Project</a>, which launched in 2013 as a flagship science initiative of the European Commission’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20181222034306/https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/fet-flagships">Future and Emerging Technologies program</a>. The project <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqMpGrM5ECo">initially sought</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2011.12.015">simulate the entire human brain</a> in a supercomputer within a decade, continuing the work its founder, neuroscientist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=W3lyJF8AAAAJ&hl=en">Henry Markram</a>, started with his 2005 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1848">Blue Brain Project</a>. Not only did it seek to digitize the brain, but research and laboratory work were also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2011.12.015">designed to be completely digital</a>, with researchers distributed across Europe.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The initial goal of the Human Brain Project was to simulate the entire human brain in a supercomputer.</span></figcaption>
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<p>However, the project was rife with controversy among neuroscientists worldwide. It <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/482456a">faced skepticism</a> before it even started and gathered <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/513027a">heated criticism</a> and <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-human-brain-project-went-wrong-and-how-to-fix-it/">debate</a> once funded. After over 800 neuroscientists worldwide <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160621075754/http://neurofuture.eu/">signed an open letter</a> calling for a revamp of the program, it was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/511133a">completely reorganized</a> in 2015. From then on, its aim was to develop a European digital research infrastructure to advance brain science and create “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.046">brain-inspired information technology</a>.”</p>
<p>Now, 10 years later, the project is coming to a close. It remains an open question whether it achieved its goals.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.lucyxiaoluwang.com/">We are</a> <a href="https://www.ip.mpg.de/en/persons/kreyer-ann-christin.html">economists</a> who study how <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=M0QlVjcAAAAJ&hl=en">digital infrastructure</a> can help scientists collaborate in challenging times. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278402">recently published research</a> found that while the Human Brain Project experienced major changes in its structure and goals, it was able to promote collaboration through its online forum. </p>
<h2>Evolving research focuses</h2>
<p>The project was composed of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.046">scientists from various disciplines</a>, including neuroscience, computer science, physics, informatics and mathematics. More than 500 scientists and engineers at over 120 research institutions across Europe and beyond have <a href="https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/en/about-hbp/human-brain-project-ebrains/">engaged in HBP research activities</a>.</p>
<p>Although many neuroscientists view <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2019.03.027">brain network simulation</a> as an important step to advance brain science, many others criticized the project’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2015.18704">initial focus on computer simulations</a>. Scientists argued that simulations will <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/07/human-brain-project-researchers-threaten-boycott">never be enough</a> to explain the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/511125a">function of the entire brain</a> without complementary experiments on animals or tissues. Some viewed the program as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/513027a">an IT project</a> rather than one on neuroscience. Others worried that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/513027a">other important research areas</a> would be neglected. Combined with perceived <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-human-brain-project-went-wrong-and-how-to-fix-it/">lack of transparency</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/513027a">mismatch between</a> the size of its task, time frame and setup, the reorganization the open letter called for was inevitable.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501528/original/file-20221216-23-v4jcww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Timeline of Human Brain Project milestones" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501528/original/file-20221216-23-v4jcww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501528/original/file-20221216-23-v4jcww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=191&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501528/original/file-20221216-23-v4jcww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=191&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501528/original/file-20221216-23-v4jcww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=191&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501528/original/file-20221216-23-v4jcww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501528/original/file-20221216-23-v4jcww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501528/original/file-20221216-23-v4jcww.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Human Brain Project aimed to achieve ambitious milestones despite major restructuring and controversy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278402">Lucy Xiaolu Wang and Ann-Christin Kreyer</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>After revamping, the project dropped its original goal of complete brain simulation to focus on advancing brain sciences with computational science. </p>
<p>The project also started hosting supercomputer-powered online research platforms <a href="https://wiki.ebrains.eu/bin/view/Collabs/the-collaboratory/">on the Collaboratory</a> for researchers to virtually collaborate in 2016. This infrastructure enabled the development of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.046">advanced software and complex brain simulations</a> by providing cloud-based platforms for collaboration and data storage, as well as data analytics, supercomputers and modeling tools. </p>
<p>In 2018, the platform host transitioned from the project to <a href="https://ebrains.eu/">EBRAINS</a> as an upgraded and permanent version powered by new E.U. neuroscience supercomputing centers. EBRAINS is intended to serve as the backbone for a pan-European online neuroscience research platform after the project ends. Through EBRAINS, the project’s research data, models, tools and results <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.118973">will be made accessible</a> for further research.</p>
<h2>The HBP online forum</h2>
<p>To complement the research platforms, the <a href="https://forum.humanbrainproject.eu/">Human Brain Project Forum</a> was launched in July 2015 to facilitate informal collaboration and knowledge-sharing. Users discussed both project-related activities and broad neuroscience programming challenges on this public forum. All topics and discussions could be viewed freely online, and anyone could make an account to post a question or comment on an existing thread. Opening the forum to the public was intended to facilitate the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.046">exchange of results and expertise</a> with outside researchers to help achieve the project’s ambitious goals.</p>
<p>We wanted to know if the forum succeeded in its goal of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278402">connecting researchers</a> both within and beyond the project community. To answer this question, we examined patterns of user interaction and problem-solving on the forum from when it opened in July 2015 through March 2021. We measured user interaction by collecting data on all posted questions and replies, linked with available user information on the site or via public search. To analyze what factors facilitated collaborative problem-solving, we examined the solution status of the questions and users within each thread. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501529/original/file-20221216-12-gy294k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Diagram of Human Brain Project research focus areas and structure" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501529/original/file-20221216-12-gy294k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501529/original/file-20221216-12-gy294k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501529/original/file-20221216-12-gy294k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501529/original/file-20221216-12-gy294k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501529/original/file-20221216-12-gy294k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=221&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501529/original/file-20221216-12-gy294k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=221&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501529/original/file-20221216-12-gy294k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=221&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The structure of the Human Brain Project platforms and the online forum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278402">Lucy Xiaolu Wang and Ann-Christin Kreyer</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>We found that the average interaction within each posted thread is comparable to <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/">Stack Overflow</a>, a popular Q&A website for programmers. On average, each Human Brain Project forum thread <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278402">received 3.7 replies</a> compared with <a href="https://data.stackexchange.com/stackoverflow/query/50588/minimum-maximum-and-average-number-of-answers-per-post">1.47 replies per question</a> on Stack Overflow. Despite a drop in usage during early 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, forum use rose substantially in late 2020 and early 2021.</p>
<p>Questions about programming related to the project’s core research areas gathered more attention, active discussion and faster resolution. While questions that attracted users from many countries are discussed more actively, they took longer to resolve. Problems with administrator support were solved faster overall. Patterns of online interaction did not significantly differ by project affiliation status, gender or seniority level. </p>
<p>Overall, the forum appeared to be an inclusive online community that fostered collaboration.</p>
<h2>Digitizing the life sciences</h2>
<p>There is a need to partially digitize the traditionally more laboratory-based life sciences. The U.S. Department of Energy highlighted this need when it created the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/national-virtual-biotechnology-laboratory-unites-doe-labs-against-covid-19">National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory</a> in 2020, a consortium of national laboratories that uses supercomputer facilities to help scientists coordinate a united response against the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<p>But digitization doesn’t guarantee successful collaboration. While Europe’s Human Brain Project began with one specific goal that soon fell apart with controversy and disagreement, the ongoing U.S. <a href="https://braininitiative.nih.gov/">Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative</a> had no single vision. Following a more traditional research approach, multiple teams <a href="https://theconversation.com/illuminating-the-brain-one-neuron-and-synapse-at-a-time-5-essential-reads-about-how-researchers-are-using-new-tools-to-map-its-structure-and-function-187607">work independently on various topics</a>. The BRAIN Initiative had received <a href="https://www.ninds.nih.gov/sites/default/files/documents/BRAIN_Initiative_Technical_Summary_Flyer_508C.pdf">over $3 billion in funding by 2022</a> – three times the amount for the Human Brain Project.</p>
<p>While the long-term impact of the project may not be fully understood, the <a href="https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/en/summit-2023/">Human Brain Project Summit 2023</a> from March 28 to 31 is set to provide a venue for open discussion with the broader community on what the HBP has achieved. Institutional support for neuroscience research can yield tremendous returns, but it remains unclear how to best design scientific organizations and use digitization in the process. We believe studying the science of science research could help achieve the collaboration and shared goals these initiatives seek.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196473/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The European Union’s 10-year Human Brain Project is coming to a close. Whether this controversial 1 billion-euro project achieved its aims is unclear, but its online forum did foster collaboration.
Lucy Xiaolu Wang, Assistant Professor, Resource Economics Dept., UMass Amherst
Ann-Christin Kreyer, Ph.D. Candidate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/164074
2021-07-16T03:17:24Z
2021-07-16T03:17:24Z
Exports and immigrants have masked Australia’s poor R&D record. Here are some simple fixes
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410081/original/file-20210707-19-ul3xx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C99%2C6016%2C3017&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joeahead/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s long run of economic growth from the early 1990s to early 2020 inspired much boasting by incumbent politicians.</p>
<p>But behind the hubris and headlines lies a less flattering story — about Australia riding a wave of dumb luck, with exports to China and relatively high levels of immigration masking mundane economic performance.</p>
<p>The most obvious expression of this is investment by Australia’s private sector — overwhelmingly made up of small-to-medium size (SME) enterprises — in innovation. </p>
<p>The sector’s expenditure on research & development — measured as a percentage of GDP — is middling at best. After increasing to match <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/sti_scoreboard-2017-20-en">the OECD average</a> of about 2.2% in 2008, it slipped to less than 1.8% in 2017. This compares with more than 4% for the two top-ranking nations, Israel and South Korea, and more than 3% for Taiwan, Sweden, Japan and Germany.</p>
<p>But with some fine-tuning of policies and incentives in this area, <a href="https://www.deakin.edu.au/business/research/the-ipa-deakin-sme-research-centre">our analysis</a> suggests the federal government could turn around Australia’s performance on research and development within a decade.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-become-an-innovation-nation-we-really-need-to-think-smaller-162168">To become an innovation nation, we really need to think smaller</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>We can’t rely on China and immigration</h2>
<p>Australia’s ability to keep relying on booming Chinese demand for minerals and the stimulatory effect of high immigration rates pushing up GDP is unclear at best.</p>
<p>Though exports to China are at <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/australian-exports-to-china-surge-to-new-high/news-story/c7546f5d17b136239f40e0c639b36b1b">a record high</a>, this is overwhelmingly due to demand from Chinese steel makers for iron ore, and to a lesser extent wool. By most other measures, however, our relationship with China is troubled. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/morrisons-dilemma-australia-needs-a-dual-strategy-for-its-trade-relationship-with-china-162424">Morrison's dilemma: Australia needs a dual strategy for its trade relationship with China</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Housing unaffordability and congestion in our major cities means there will be political pressure to moderate post-COVID immigration rates.</p>
<p>Of all the alternative ways to improve our economic security, the potential of small and medium size businesses to innovate stands out. </p>
<h2>Tax incentives</h2>
<p>Since 2011 the federal government’s primary mechanism to encourage companies to invest in innovation has been its <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Research-and-development-tax-incentive/">research and development tax incentive scheme</a>. This provides tax offsets for eligible R&D activities. It has some solid features, in common with schemes in other countries. But the statistics suggest it has not delivered. </p>
<p>Australia’s R&D expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) declined from 2.18% in 2010 to <a href="https://data.oecd.org/rd/gross-domestic-spending-on-r-d.htm">1.79% in 2017</a>. The OECD average from 2000 to 2017 was 2.34%. </p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Business R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Ausralia private-sector spending on R&D as a percentage of GDP, compared with the OECD average." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411363/original/file-20210715-17-ydr7no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411363/original/file-20210715-17-ydr7no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411363/original/file-20210715-17-ydr7no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411363/original/file-20210715-17-ydr7no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411363/original/file-20210715-17-ydr7no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411363/original/file-20210715-17-ydr7no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411363/original/file-20210715-17-ydr7no.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Post COVID Policy Options to Enhance Australia’s Innovation Capabilities Small Business White Paper 2021</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>This failure — and the dire implications for Australia’s long-term economic prosperity — prompted our research team to investigate policy fixes. </p>
<h2>How to increase R&D</h2>
<p>One clear area for improvement is businesses tapping into the strong research culture of our world-class universities and other government-funded research organisations. A wealth of Australian expertise remains locked within the walls of our research institutions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-more-research-commercialisation-then-remove-the-barriers-and-give-academics-real-incentives-to-do-it-161355">Want more research commercialisation? Then remove the barriers and give academics real incentives to do it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some problems are specific to industries. For example, the government’s R&D incentives have excluded software companies from eligibility for incentives. This has arguably been both unfair and unwise, constraining the growth of a potentially huge local industry — as the success of companies such as Atlassian and Canva demonstrate.</p>
<p>Changes to the tax incentives scheme introduced in July, designed to increase incentives for R&D generally, will have the perverse effect of reducing incentives for many smaller and medium-sized companies in the medium to longer term (more than five years). </p>
<p>But there is cause for hope. Australia’s performance on innovation can be turned around within about ten years through judicious fine-tuning of federal industry policies. </p>
<p>These include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>reversing the July changes to the R&D tax incentives scheme </p></li>
<li><p>reimbursing R&D offsets quarterly rather than annually, a small administrative change that would help the cash flow of small businesses, enabling them to more readily invest in R&D</p></li>
<li><p>increasing financial incentives to companies for research collaboration with research institutions. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>One idea to encourage collaboration with research institutions is trialling “innovation vouchers”. These provide conditional funding for R&D, being redeemable only through collaborating with a university or other publicly funded research institution. Such vouchers have already been trialled in the UK and the Netherlands, with strong evidence they stimulate R&D activity by small to medium-sized businesses.</p>
<p>These proposals, in combination with others detailed <a href="https://www.deakin.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/2330559/Small-Business-White-Paper-2021.pdf?_ga=2.217535125.2030742933.1626313661-1058862936.1625612647">in our report</a>, could help unlock a potentially rich source of growth and prosperity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164074/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Australia’s R&D expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product has declined over the past decade.
George A. Tanewski, Professor in Accounting, Deakin University
Andrew Conway, Adjunct Professor Deakin Univeristy & Chief Executive Officer Institute of Public Accountants, Deakin University
James Kavourakis, Research Fellow at the IPA-Deakin SME Research Centre, Deakin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/145689
2020-09-10T03:26:36Z
2020-09-10T03:26:36Z
Why unis are worried about a federal power to cancel their foreign ‘arrangements’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357099/original/file-20200909-17-vs95us.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5462%2C3341&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://theconversation.com/morrison-government-set-to-target-victorian-belt-and-road-agreement-under-sweeping-new-legislation-145124">proposed law</a> would give the federal government power to cancel arrangements between foreign governments and Australian states, territories, local councils and public universities. </p>
<p>At first glance, it’s not meant to cover universities’ arrangements with all foreign universities. However, the practical reality is that it could impact all sorts of Australian university arrangements with foreign entities, including universities. These powers have the potential to affect arrangements for joint degrees, staff or student exchange programs, research grant funding, collaborative research and joint conferences, among other things. </p>
<p>The core premise of the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6596">Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Bill 2020</a> is to prevent “arrangements” with foreign governments that <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/ensuring-consistent-australian-foreign-policy">the government says</a> “adversely affect Australia’s foreign relations or are inconsistent with our foreign policy”. It is not explicit in the bill, but the government has in its sights <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/bri-framework">Victoria’s agreement with China</a> under the latter’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-there-so-much-furore-over-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-139461">Belt and Road Initiative</a>. </p>
<p>It’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-can-the-federal-government-control-the-ability-of-states-to-sign-deals-with-foreign-governments-145164">fairly clear</a> the Commonwealth has the constitutional power to do this. Nevertheless, the inclusion of Australian public universities in this regime is problematic. (ANU, we regret to advise that you will be subject to this legislation but Bond and Notre Dame, please be advised that you may continue to go forth and make your foreign arrangements as you see fit.)</p>
<p>Universities Australia has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/05/foreign-veto-laws-could-affect-tens-of-thousands-of-research-projects-australian-universities-warn">expressed</a> “grave concerns” about the potential impact on “tens of thousands of research projects”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-can-the-federal-government-control-the-ability-of-states-to-sign-deals-with-foreign-governments-145164">Explainer: can the federal government control the ability of states to sign deals with foreign governments?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Undefined ‘autonomy’ is a key issue</h2>
<p>It has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/morrison-government-set-to-target-victorian-belt-and-road-agreement-under-sweeping-new-legislation-145124">suggested</a> the legislation will only cover arrangements with foreign universities that are “arms of a foreign government”, such as government military universities. However, the bill as tabled creates potential for overreach. This is because the question of whether a university agreement is covered or not will turn on the nebulous determination of whether the foreign university has “institutional autonomy”. </p>
<p>The bill does not define this. The forthcoming rules made under this legislation will set the criteria for assessing the autonomy of foreign universities. </p>
<p>At this point, the criteria are unknown. The <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/ems/r6596_ems_d3fd0486-c0d5-430e-83d7-5c2de5644e99/upload_pdf/747250.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">explanatory memorandum</a> to the bill suggests they “may include” if a government or political party exerts “control or influence” over “university management, leadership, curriculum and/or research activities”. </p>
<p>The foreign affairs minister (not parliament) will determine the criteria in a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/Brief_Guides_to_Senate_Procedure/No_19#:%7E:text=What%20are%20legislative%20instruments%3F,in%20a%20particular%20case%3B%20and">legislative instrument</a>. This is a form of rules or regulations that the minister can unilaterally change at any point. (Parliament does have the power to veto these later.) </p>
<p>Even if the criteria for autonomy are fairly clear to understand and remain consistent, this still presents a practical problem for universities. How are universities to determine how the rules might apply to foreign universities whose internal operating arrangements are not publicly available? Even if available, they might not be in English.</p>
<p>And if the federal government is suggesting a foreign university’s autonomy is important, is not the bill setting a double standard that Australian universities may not meet? They are certainly regulated by the federal government’s Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). And government policy changes – such as funding for student places and research block grants, among other things – regularly have direct impacts on public universities.</p>
<p>Indeed, this bill is one just more example of the government’s recent efforts to regulate what universities do and how they do it. </p>
<h2>And that’s not the only problem</h2>
<p>The powers in this bill are wide-ranging. As a result, the regulatory impact of this oversight and veto regime will be significant. </p>
<p>For a start, the bill seeks to safeguard Australia’s foreign policy “<a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=LEGISLATION;id=legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6596_first-reps%2F0001;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6596_first-reps%2F0000%22;rec=0#1dae88e12a4c48c4ab9f18c82686dc0a">whether or not the policy […] is written or publicly available</a>”. Even the most risk-averse, compliance-inclined Australian entity is going to find it difficult to operate in support of a policy that it knows nothing about. </p>
<p>The bill covers <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=LEGISLATION;id=legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6596_first-reps%2F0001;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6596_first-reps%2F0000%22;rec=0#d689ded711dd46dfbd7f85e2b029f1ea">written arrangements, agreements, contracts, understandings and undertakings</a>, regardless of <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=LEGISLATION;id=legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6596_first-reps%2F0005;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6596_first-reps%2F0000%22;rec=0#00eb690848b742f6a1ac6bb0ef03540e">where</a> and <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=LEGISLATION;id=legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6596_first-reps%2F0001;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6596_first-reps%2F0000%22;rec=0#d689ded711dd46dfbd7f85e2b029f1ea">when</a> they were entered into. Although not mentioned explicitly, oral arrangements appear to be excluded. </p>
<p>There is a complicated set of statutory definitions. These involve core entities, non-core entities, core arrangements, non-core arrangements and subsidiary arrangements with third parties. Different rules apply for the various combinations of these. This is one of those occasions where a set of Venn diagrams should have replaced the simplified descriptive outlines now common to Commonwealth legislation!</p>
<p>The decision-making process about whether foreign arrangements are inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy and what happens afterwards is also problematic. The legislation <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=LEGISLATION;id=legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6596_first-reps%2F0005;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6596_first-reps%2F0000%22;rec=0#3daaa44c926d42cea532b71a3cdc6f7a">states</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Minister is not required to observe any requirements of procedural fairness in exercising a power or performing a function under this Act.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And that’s just the start of the imbalance of power. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/morrisons-foreign-relations-bill-should-not-pass-parliament-heres-why-145615">Morrison's foreign relations bill should not pass parliament. Here's why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Rights of appeal are weak</h2>
<p>If the parties affected do not agree with the minister’s decision, they have little recourse. The bill does not provide for merits review – an appeal where the facts can be considered anew, alongside the lawfulness of the decision-making process. It explicitly, <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6595">in a related bill</a>, excludes review under the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00309">Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977</a>. </p>
<p>Prospects for compensation are almost nil. It can be sought from the government only <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=LEGISLATION;id=legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6596_first-reps%2F0005;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6596_first-reps%2F0000%22;rec=0#d2b4b9d2613d4ee5a9e95d7317e239a0">if property is acquired on otherwise than just terms</a>. </p>
<p>Concerns have been voiced about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-clive-palmer-could-challenge-the-act-designed-to-stop-him-getting-30-billion-145098">extraordinary nature</a> of <a href="https://parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/bills.nsf/BillProgressPopup?openForm&ParentUNID=2F1CFD31ACD372EE482585C100337061">Western Australia’s recent legislation</a> terminating Clive Palmer’s arbitration matters. Some have claimed it <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-wa-government-legislated-itself-a-win-in-its-dispute-with-clive-palmer-and-put-itself-above-the-law-144360">damaged the rule of law</a>. Palmer <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-12/clive-palmer-denies-seeking-30-billion-damages-wa-government/12494968">has suggested</a> the state’s action creates a sovereign risk. </p>
<p>You would think new powers enabling the Commonwealth to unilaterally terminate arrangements between Australian entities, including universities, and certain foreign entities ought to excite similar concern about the risk for foreign parties in making agreements with Australians. </p>
<p>The bill has been referred to the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/AustForeignRelations2020">Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee</a>. Public submissions to the inquiry close on September 25 2020. </p>
<p>One thing about this legislation as it stands appears certain: any trust that foreign universities currently place in Australian universities will be at risk when it becomes known the Commonwealth can unilaterally terminate their arrangements.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145689/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Narrelle Morris has received funding from the Australia Research Council, the National Archives of Australia and the National Library of Australia. She has been funded in recent years for international conference travel to present her research by a foreign government entity and a foreign university of unknown institutional autonomy, both of which would likely fall within the auspices of this new legislation (although these arrangements were likely consistent with Australia's known historical foreign policy should the Minister have any concerns). </span></em></p>
It’s all in the details: the wide-ranging powers hinge on the yet-to-be-defined ‘institutional autonomy’ of foreign partners that enter into agreements with Australian public universities.
Narrelle Morris, Senior Lecturer, Curtin Law School, Curtin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/133241
2020-03-30T15:51:36Z
2020-03-30T15:51:36Z
What African scholars think of studying in Denmark
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322240/original/file-20200323-112677-1pilfzq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C229%2C3995%2C2782&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dr Gildas Hounmanou with his colleagues at the University of Copenhagen. Hounmanou, from Benin, studied in Denmark.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Danida Fellowship Centre/Vibeke Quaade </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the 1990s, the World Bank and other major aid organisations focused on primary and secondary <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057%2Fhep.2012.20">rather than higher education</a> in Africa. The Scandinavian countries had another strategy. They made partnerships and so-called <a href="http://www.africanbookscollective.com/authors-editors/roy-kroevel">research capacity building programmes</a> at higher education level with African countries. </p>
<p>Over the past three decades, more than 500 African scholars have been to Denmark as part of such partnerships funded by <a href="https://um.dk/en/danida-en/">Danish Development Assistance</a> (Danida). The partnerships take different forms, but their main objective has been to contribute to the solution of developing countries’ problems, both in terms of new research results and in building research capacity. </p>
<p>In 2018, Danida Fellowship Centre initiated <a href="https://dfcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Opportunies_challenges_and_bad_weather_2019_26juni.pdf">a study</a> of the experiences and reflections of the African scholars who’d taken part in such partnerships. </p>
<p>The scholars reflected on their experiences, and listed both benefits and drawbacks of studying in Denmark. These included access to supervision and having the opportunity to share and discuss knowledge in their research groups, as well as being able to access libraries, laboratories, and other facilities that may have been lacking in their home countries.</p>
<p>The majority of those we interviewed were still involved in research and were publishing at international level. Those not working in the research environment said they continued to apply their training in critical thinking and knowledge sharing. Almost all of the researchers were active in local development in their home countries. Some were active in politics at home or internationally.</p>
<p>Overall, the study’s findings suggest it is vital for African researchers to have access to international funding, for example through Danida’s research capacity building programmes. This benefits individual scholars, Denmark and Danish universities – and, crucially, the countries from which these researchers come. Their experiences can be used to build research capacity on the African continent.</p>
<h2>The study</h2>
<p>The study targeted all the approximately 500 African scholars who had been involved between 1989 and 2019. We managed to get in touch with 60% through a questionnaire, which asked about respondents’ current employment, research collaboration, publications and mobility. There were also open-ended questions regarding their ideas about the benefits and challenges of being involved in research capacity building. </p>
<p>Most respondents were originally from Tanzania and Ghana; around 65% were currently employed in the university sector.</p>
<p>We also had 15 qualitative interviews with current and former PhDs, and researchers involved in current research capacity building projects. Finally, we conducted a workshop with 45 participants that posed broader questions about the purpose of going to Denmark and notions of empowerment. </p>
<p>Most of the people we interviewed hadn’t particularly wished to come to Denmark. They were keen to go wherever funding was available. But they all had very positive feelings about the country – apart from the Danish weather – after having been there.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Co3T_hvaMTw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Some participants shared their experiences in Denmark in video interviews.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The current PhD fellows were making the most of their stays in both Denmark and in their home countries. They said the most important advantage of studying in Denmark was supervision and having the opportunity to share and discuss knowledge in research groups. Conducting fieldwork and being supervised were the most important aspects of their stays in their home countries (which formed part of the fellowship).</p>
<p>Less than 5% marked the item “disappointed” on a list of 11 items (multiple entries allowed) describing their PhD training. Some elaborated by noting the difficulties of leaving family behind.</p>
<p>Many of those who had already completed their PhD studies said they remained in contact with their supervisors and other people in Denmark.</p>
<p>The vast majority of the African researchers we interviewed considered their stay to have been intellectually stimulating, adding to their personal development and empowerment. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dmNR3thERZE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Participants said their home countries had benefited, too.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They emphasised that they appreciated being able to discuss and share knowledge with their Danish colleagues, and the relatively high level of social equality and <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/10/denmark-has-the-flattest-work-hierarchy-in-the-world/">flat social hierarchies</a> in Denmark. They had learned critical thinking and to work independently. This shows the importance of physical mobility – of actually being in Denmark.</p>
<p>And what of the benefits to the researchers’ own countries, and the African continent more broadly?</p>
<h2>Power balance</h2>
<p>The researchers educated through the projects were useful to their countries, although it is not possible to link this directly to the capacity building. The majority were employed either at universities or in the public sector; some of those working in the public sector were still conducting research. Only 1% were unemployed. Others were no longer involved in research, but had important positions in society due to their academic and intellectual skills.</p>
<p>We also questioned issues of power in the engagement between Denmark and the African countries involved. Any kind of so-called <a href="https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/latiss/12/2/latiss120202.xml">research capacity building</a> is invariably embedded in power relations and debates about colonisation of knowledge.</p>
<p>We were quite surprised by the African participants’ positive perception of research capacity building. We have both worked in the field as practitioners and researchers for quite a few years and have followed the debate about the decolonisation of universities. As we have also written about the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Higher-Education-and-Capacity-Building-in-Africa-The-geography-and-power/Adriansen-Madsen-Jensen/p/book/9781138838154">power and politics of knowledge</a>, we were prepared for critique. We asked for it and about it. But it seldom came across.</p>
<p>It emerged that, through long-term collaboration in the course of the projects – and often in the course of a number of projects – the participants built up constructive working relations which made <a href="https://theconversation.com/global-academic-collaboration-a-new-form-of-colonisation-61382">uneven power relations</a> between the global North and the global South less pronounced. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/global-academic-collaboration-a-new-form-of-colonisation-61382">Global academic collaboration: a new form of colonisation?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Many of the African researchers said the commitment of Danish researchers went far beyond purely research collaboration. For instance, a PhD student said her supervisor picked her up at the airport, bringing a warm coat for her. These approaches were much appreciated by the African researchers as the basis for long-term relationships. And the African researchers had similar approaches towards the Danes, when they were in the African countries doing fieldwork. In this way, friendships also evolved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133241/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hanne Kirstine Adriansen has received funding from Danida Fellowship Centre, which funded the study mentioned here. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lene Møller Madsen receives funding from Danida Fellowship Centre, which funded the study mentioned here. </span></em></p>
Global research funding, such as that offered by Denmark’s government, can open doors for African researchers to study abroad and then take their skills home.
Hanne Kirstine Adriansen, Associate Professor, School of Education, Aarhus University
Lene Møller Madsen, Associate professor in Science Education, University of Copenhagen
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/122429
2019-08-29T13:39:12Z
2019-08-29T13:39:12Z
What patents and publications reveal about China-Africa science collaboration
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289459/original/file-20190826-8856-1y3jd4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=143%2C772%2C5739%2C4643&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Slowly, Chinese and African researchers are beginning to collaborate more.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Blablo101/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>China has enjoyed a close economic relationship with a number of African countries for many decades. It has been particularly involved in supporting African countries’ infrastructure projects. </p>
<p>As far back as the 1960s it <a href="https://www.tazarasite.com/our-history">helped build</a> the Tanzania Zambia Railway. More recently, it’s invested in railway structures in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.co.za/here-are-150-million-rand-projects-in-africa-funded-by-china-2018-9">Ethiopia</a>, <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-03/25/c_137922762.htm">Kenya</a> and <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2018/04/chinas-role-nigerian-railway-development-and-implications-security-and">Nigeria</a>. It also contributed enormously to building the African Union’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria; and a new parliament building in Harare, Zimbabwe. </p>
<p>These and similar investments have been celebrated <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2018-12-19-china-is-investing-in-africa-and-thats-a-good-thing/">by some</a> and made others sceptical. Some scholars, for instance, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/03/china-invest-60-billion-across-continent-raising-fears-new-colonialism/">believe</a> that recent Chinese activities on the continent amount to a “new form of colonialism”.</p>
<p>We wanted to investigate a different type of collaboration between the People’s Republic of China and countries in Africa: how they work together in science and technology (S&T). So we <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/JUXUNXE8JVWVQH4YNBGG/full?target=10.1080%2F14765284.2019.1647004">set out</a> to examine the number of research publications that involved authors from China and any African countries. We also explored how many patents have been obtained collaboratively between Chinese experts and those from African countries.</p>
<p>We chose these measures because scholarly publications (research papers) are generally considered as the base measure of research output. Patents, meanwhile, are viewed as the technological output or the applied aspect of scientific research. For instance, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) uses <a href="https://www.oecd.org/sti/inno/Bibliometrics-Compendium.pdf">these indicators</a> <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/data/oecd-science-technology-and-r-d-statistics/main-science-and-technology-indicators_data-00182-en">to measure</a> the performance of any innovation system. </p>
<p>We found an increase in both collaborative publications and patents between 1975 and 2017. During that time there were 12 700 collaborative articles involving Chinese and African authors. But this was limited to researchers from very few African countries – among them South Africa, Egypt and Morocco – that are comparatively stronger in science and technology infrastructure than many others on the continent. </p>
<p>We believe the rise in collaboration between China and some African countries is a good thing. Along with its booming economy, China is the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-00927-4">second largest</a> producer of scientific research articles (the US is first) and patents in the world. African researchers could benefit enormously from working closely with their Chinese counterparts. Ultimately this would be good for their countries.</p>
<h2>Study findings</h2>
<p>For our study, we drew publication data from <a href="https://apps.webofknowledge.com/WOS_GeneralSearch_input.do?product=WOS&search_mode=GeneralSearch&SID=E3Pmr2EYuqiO2Mnkwtg&preferencesSaved=">Web of Science</a>. This is a scholarly literature database maintained by Clarivate Analytics. The database is used for literature searches and citation analysis. For patents, we turned to the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s <a href="https://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/">PATENTSCOPE</a> database.</p>
<p>We retrieved data about joint publications involving Chinese and African researchers, focusing our search on the period from 1975 to 2017. In terms of research papers, there has been a marked increase. In 2007 there were only 263 collaborative research papers; in 2017, there were 3 211 joint papers among Chinese and African researchers. </p>
<p>We found that Morocco, Egypt and South Africa dominated both the publication and patent collaboration with China. This makes sense, as these three countries have fairly well developed S&T infrastructure. That would equip them to work better with China than other African countries that do not have sufficient resources or infrastructure. We also found that they collaborated more widely with other countries outside Africa. </p>
<p>Countries in Africa with weaker science and technology capabilities could reach out to Chinese researchers and institutions to help learn more, grow their output and even develop their infrastructure.</p>
<h2>Room for growth</h2>
<p>Our findings suggest that the collaborative relationship between China and some African countries is growing – slowly. In the long run, sustainable linkages will be crucial to help African research gain a foothold in the global science and technology chain. So the relationship with China should be developed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122429/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Swapan Kumar Patra is affiliated with Tshwane University of Technology as Career Advancement Research Fellow. He is part of the H2020 project on Global Value Chain. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mammo Muchie holds a DST/NRF SARChI Chair in Innovation Studies and is also part of the EU-HORIZON 2020 Research on Global Value Chain.</span></em></p>
We wanted to investigate how the People’s Republic of China and countries in Africa work together in science and technology.
Swapan Kumar Patra, Tshwane University of Technology
Mammo Muchie, DST-NRF SARChI Chair in Innovation Studies, Tshwane University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/119677
2019-08-01T14:01:03Z
2019-08-01T14:01:03Z
Africa needs better science capacity to meet environmental challenges
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285828/original/file-20190726-43130-1n3rebi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers only have access to limited facilities and support for research.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humanity faces <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/editorial/facing-our-global-environmental-challenges-requires-efficient">unprecedented environmental challenges</a>. Nowhere are the challenges greater than in Africa, the second most populous continent. Over <a href="http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/publications/files/key_findings_wpp_2015.pdf">the next century</a> Africa will replace Asia as the driver of global population increase and the impact of climate change will be severe. </p>
<p>Already, an <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/342/6160/850">area more than half the size of Nigeria</a> has been deforested. And by 2100, <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/system/tdf/spm_africa_2018_digital.pdf?file=1&type=node&id=28397">more than half of all bird and mammal</a> species in Africa are projected to be lost. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01885-1">With colleagues</a>, we recently brought these strands together and linked them to the need for a significant improvement in the continent’s higher education and research capacity.</p>
<p>The reasons for this are clear. The higher education sector in Africa expanded rapidly: enrolment doubled from <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01885-1">6.1 million to 12.2 million between 2000-2013</a>. But funding and capacity – such as the number of teachers, salaries and research support – have not kept pace. </p>
<p>Africa imports more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199327">research expertise</a> when it comes to biodiversity research, than any other region. And in international collaborations, the participation of African scholars has been frequently limited to providing access to study sites or data. Trends such as these are partially due to teaching loads. Professors often teach more classes with more students leaving little time for research and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01885-1">other scholarly activities</a>. </p>
<p>Beyond facing the problem of having over-enrolled and outdated classrooms, poorly paid faculty are taking on additional paid work to make a reasonable living for their families. For example, in Uganda, professors will often cancel classes for a few weeks so they can take on consultancies for groups like the World Bank, leaving their students to learn the material themselves. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283106/original/file-20190708-51273-2975aw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283106/original/file-20190708-51273-2975aw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283106/original/file-20190708-51273-2975aw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=710&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283106/original/file-20190708-51273-2975aw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=710&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283106/original/file-20190708-51273-2975aw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=710&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283106/original/file-20190708-51273-2975aw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=892&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283106/original/file-20190708-51273-2975aw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=892&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283106/original/file-20190708-51273-2975aw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=892&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The graphs show university level education in large High Income Countries, China, and Africa. The size of the dots is proportional to the number of countries included in the analysis.
A: government expenditure (constant $US) per enrolled student; B: number of enrolled students per teacher. ._</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite these difficulties, this could be a very exciting time for research to address Africa’s environmental issues. Improvements in access to pre-university education have provided a large talent pool, and widening internet access has made collaboration more realistic. The stage is set for the African scientific community to reach out globally so that, through collaboration, they can set the agenda and play a significant role in science development. </p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01885-1">article</a> points to three ways forward: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Change the incentive system in high-income countries to facilitate African collaboration and training; </p></li>
<li><p>Modify international programmes for African students; and </p></li>
<li><p>Help African universities attract and retain the most qualified home-country educators.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>We present a training model suited to surmounting Africa’s environmental challenges. One of the most effective models has been close one-on-one collaborations between African students and internationally respected scientists. These scientists have long-term, site-based training and research programmes in Africa. This approach has led to research, training, and funding opportunities that last decades and form broad networks. </p>
<p>In addition to the typical professor-student mentoring, research collaborations like this usually create opportunities for African students to attend conferences, provide access to literature and software, and generate long-term collaboration involving grants, publications, student exchanges, and much more.</p>
<p>But this model has not been scaled to meet Africa’s current environmental challenges. The model needs the participation of hundreds of dedicated scientists, each having long-term, but not necessarily large, funding. The model has huge potential. The training that takes place within the context of long-term research collaborations, builds the research network needed for the rapid growth of training for future generations of Africans.</p>
<p>The next generation would have the knowledge, skills, and connections to address the critical environmental issue. There are numerous examples of this model working extremely well when used by single researchers or a small group of researchers, but it has never been brought up to the scale now needed in Africa. </p>
<p>Another area that needs urgent action is that African research institutions must improve working conditions. Without this they risk losing the talent fostered by these high quality research collaborations and the networks they engender to private enterprise, non-governmental agencies, or migration aboard.</p>
<p>Researchers only have access to limited facilities and support for research. Only 0.4% of Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01885-1">spent on research</a> and development, compared to 2.4% in North America and Western Europe. On a positive note, Kenya recently announced that it intends to increase spending on research and development<a href="https://scienceafrica.co.ke/kenya-allocates-20m-for-rd-institutions/"> from 0.4% of GDP to 2.0%</a> </p>
<p>Without access to suitable resources and technical support, many African PhDs find it nearly impossible to remain competitive in their chosen field. Instead, they opt to leave academic life for more lucrative work. This needs to change.</p>
<h2>What needs to be done</h2>
<p>The changes necessary to implement these recommendations at sufficient scales are not massive or too difficult to overcome. They include: increasing funding to support African students and early career researchers; improved salaries and infrastructure in African universities; and additional incentives to entice faculty from high-income countries to form collaborations and networks where African students are trained and mentored. </p>
<p>Africa must tackle the effects of biodiversity loss and climate change and be an essential player in addressing global environmental issues more generally. </p>
<p>The environmental challenges are huge. The continent’s high biodiversity is at risk with over <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/rest/bitstreams/32269/retrieve">6 000 animal and 3 000 plant species</a> being threatened with extinction. Africa’s carbon dioxide emissions increased 12 fold in roughly 50 years, and by the end of the next decade its organic carbon emissions will make up 50% of global emissions. </p>
<p>Given Africa’s projected population growth, management of its environment must be a global priority. A stronger Africa benefits not only Africans, but everyone on our increasingly interconnected planet.</p>
<p><em>Claire A. Hemingway from the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/about/">National Science Foundation</a> is also a co-author of this work. She would like to clarify that contents of this publication are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent official views of the foundation.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119677/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Given Africa’s projected population growth, management of its environment must be a global priority
Colin A. Chapman, Professor, Canada Research Chair, Royal Society Member, McGill University
Patrick Omeja, Field Manager, Makerere University Biological Field Station, Makerere University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/102217
2019-01-28T13:33:47Z
2019-01-28T13:33:47Z
How a partnership is closing the door on “parachute” research in Africa
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234623/original/file-20180903-41723-1erdmr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When the wheels of partnership turn smoothly, Africa can benefit enormously.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EtiAmmos/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30239-0">growing condemnation</a> of “parachute research” among the global scientific community. This refers to the practice of scientists and research groups from the global north conducting research and collecting data in poorer parts of the world, publishing their findings in prestigious journals – and giving little or no credit to their local collaborators.</p>
<p>The respected journal Lancet Global Health recently published <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30239-0">an editorial</a> damning the approach. It drew immediate reactions from all over the world. James Smith from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine acknowledged the problem. But, he <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30315-2">cautioned</a>, researchers from developed countries have a role in shaping health discussions through high impact publications.</p>
<p>A group of malnutrition researchers based at the University of Malawi’s College of Medicine, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30324-3">weighed in</a> to share their experience. They’ve established a body, the <a href="http://chainnetwork.org/">Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition Network</a>. It emphasises north-south collaboration and works to avoid “parachute” research. </p>
<p>More recently, Professor Jimmy Volmink and colleagues <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673618323456?via%3Dihub">expressed concern</a> about equity in collaborations between global health researchers in low-income and middle-income countries and academics in high-income countries. They noted that these partnerships often result in disproportionate benefits for the northern partners who assume more prominent authorship positions in joint publications. </p>
<p>For the past 15 years my colleagues and I have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30342-5">doing work</a> that we believe is important in this debate. We are involved in <a href="http://www.edctp.org/">an organisation</a> that focuses on partnerships. We believe that our model of global health partnership and international collaboration is closing the door to parachute researchers and those who pursue a parasitic rather than symbiotic approach to research in and about Africa.</p>
<p>We are not suggesting that researchers from the global north ought to stay out of Africa. Their contributions and the reach they enjoy into high impact journals can help the continent enormously. The problem arises when local researchers are sidelined and when no capacity building or skills development occurs. It’s also problematic when data is not shared with local researchers to further their work in communities.</p>
<p>These are some of the lessons we’ve learned in the 15 years since the <a href="http://www.edctp.org/">European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership</a> (EDCTP) was established by the European Union. </p>
<h2>Setting up a partnership</h2>
<p>The partnership was a response to the global health crisis caused by three major poverty-related diseases: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Our scope has increased significantly to include neglected infectious diseases, emerging infections, diarrhoeal diseases and lower respiratory tract infections. </p>
<p>Today there are 30 participating states, 16 of which are in Africa. These include Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. </p>
<p>With a significant investment of €683 million from the European Union, matched by our participating states, this partnership model represents one of equality and inclusiveness. Each participating state is represented in the General Assembly, which governs the organisation.</p>
<p>The partnership is in its second phase. Over the past five years EDCTP has invested €447.6 m in 193 grants related broadly to clinical trials and career development have been funded. What’s important is that 62% of the funding has been allocated to 226 institutions in Africa. This is valuable because more resources are needed to strengthen Africa’s generally weak research infrastructure and technical capacity.</p>
<p>On the career development front, our fellowship recipients must be a resident of, or be willing to relocate to, a sub-Saharan African country. And when it comes to clinical trials, collaboration is not just expected: it’s a rule. A minimum of three independent research institutions – two in European partner states and one in Africa – must be involved in any project that’s considered for funding.</p>
<p>This eligibility criteria encourages European institutions to establish collaborations with those in Africa. </p>
<h2>Positive shifts</h2>
<p>There have been really encouraging shifts over the past 15 years that suggest genuine collaboration is happening. When we first started, more than 70% of the African institutions involved in successful applications were from countries with well-established health research institutions. These included South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. And the principal investigators from Africa were mostly men.</p>
<p>However, the situation is changing. More recent successful grant applications have been more inclusive. Central and West African institutions are featuring more frequently. And a greater proportion of principal investigators from the continent are women. </p>
<p>The collaboration our partnership demands has produced great results in the real world. In 2017, we funded two large consortia to conduct research about emerging and re-emerging epidemics. They also provided capacity development to prepare African researchers to respond effectively to disease outbreaks.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.alerrt.global/">Both</a> <a href="http://regist2.virology-education.com/presentations/2018/ICREID/19_pandora.pdf">consortia</a> involve more African than European organisations. One is led by a woman researcher from the Republic of Congo.</p>
<h2>Benefits for all</h2>
<p>Of course, not all research collaboration can be identical. But our experiences suggest that a few things are necessary to ensure everyone benefits genuinely from the results of collaborative research. </p>
<p>These include good data collection and data sharing infrastructure. Proper training for researchers from the global south in data collection and analysis is also crucial. So too, is fair representation of research partners from various research sites in both publications and subsequent meetings where the results and implications of the research are discussed.</p>
<p><em>Shingai Machingaidze, EDCTP Project Officer and a PhD student at the University of Cape Town, contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102217/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Moses John Bockarie works for EDCTP. He previously received funding from the UK Department for International Development. He is hosted by the SAMRC.</span></em></p>
It’s all too common for local scholars to be sidelined in what are supposed to be genuine research partnerships.
Moses John Bockarie, Adjunct professor, Njala University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/108009
2018-12-04T11:31:07Z
2018-12-04T11:31:07Z
CRISPR babies and other ethical missteps in science threaten China’s global standing
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248584/original/file-20181203-194944-g5btiu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=255%2C197%2C2443%2C1796&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">China's military may bear the brunt of hits to the country's scientific reputation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/China-Ivory-Coast/aa6bba3d6a184e99baeb42dc39b9e162/4/0">Roman Pilipey/Pool Photo via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“What happened this time was an ethics disaster for the world,” according to Wang Yuedan, a professor of immunology at Peking University, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/world/asia/gene-editing-babies-china.html">quoted in The New York Times</a>. He was talking about the recent claim by U.S.-trained Chinese scientist He Jiankui that he’d successfully altered the DNA in vitro of human embryos that were later born as twin girls in China. If true as claimed, the edits he made would be inherited by any of their future offspring.</p>
<p>As a longtime <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OBu0OHEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholar of international relations in science</a>, I contend the “disaster” has many more implications for China than the world at large.</p>
<p>No doubt, you’ve seen the news that a scientist at <a href="http://sustc.edu.cn/en/">Southern University of Science and Technology</a> in Shenzhen, China, created the <a href="https://theconversation.com/rogue-science-strikes-again-the-case-of-the-first-gene-edited-babies-107684">first human babies with changes to their genetic germline</a> — the genes the babies would pass on to their own children. The announcement was made <a href="https://theconversation.com/screening-the-human-future-youtube-persuasion-and-genetically-engineered-children-107938">in a most unorthodox way</a>: over social media rather than through accepted scientific channels of <a href="https://theconversation.com/peer-review-is-in-crisis-but-should-be-fixed-not-abolished-67972">peer review</a>, reproduction, validation and publication.</p>
<p>In turn, He has been hit by a furious backlash over perceived violations of <a href="https://theconversation.com/crispr-babies-raise-an-uncomfortable-reality-abiding-by-scientific-standards-doesnt-guarantee-ethical-research-108008">scientific and ethical norms</a>. But in this age of increasingly collaborative science, the furor could unleash repercussions throughout the Chinese research community – and perhaps even have an impact on China’s military strength.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248585/original/file-20181203-194925-1tmbf6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248585/original/file-20181203-194925-1tmbf6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248585/original/file-20181203-194925-1tmbf6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248585/original/file-20181203-194925-1tmbf6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248585/original/file-20181203-194925-1tmbf6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248585/original/file-20181203-194925-1tmbf6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248585/original/file-20181203-194925-1tmbf6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248585/original/file-20181203-194925-1tmbf6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The scientific enterprise is increasingly global and collaborative. Here He Jiankui elaborates on his announcement at the Second International Summit on Human Gene Editing in Hong Kong.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Hong-Kong-Gene-Edited-Babies/8143f99506f345d9a283afdb47db9de9/1/0">AP Photo/Kin Cheung</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tarnished reputation and trustworthiness</h2>
<p>The disaster for China comes in several flavors.</p>
<p>One hit comes in the form of reputational damage in the international system of science and technology research. A researcher and their institution advance by gaining positive attention for their work. This social system operates globally and is driven by reputation. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YO5XSXwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Jennifer Doudna</a>, the molecular biologist who first described CRISPR-Cas9, published with other top scientists in the journals Nature and Science, building a reputation that attracted elite collaborators. These collaborations, conducted across international lines, led to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1258096">critical CRISPR breakthrough</a>.</p>
<p>In a perverse way, He Jiankui seems to have bet on this dynamic — that by being first, he would enhance his own and his nation’s scientific reputation. He bet wrong. He may now join the pantheon of notables making claims through media rather than through science journals, such as chemists <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleischmann%E2%80%93Pons_experiment">Martin Fleischman and Stanley Pons</a>, who, in 1989, announced by <a href="http://newenergytimes.com/v2/reports/UniversityOfUtahPressRelease.shtml">press release</a> that they’d discovered fusion at room temperature. They had discovered something, but the work had not been validated by the community before they went public.</p>
<p>This rollout will not burnish China’s scientific reputation since the research community expects to be part of the conversation. Science requires openness and exchange; He Jiankui operated in secret.</p>
<p>He’s action introduced a second threat to China by further reducing international trust in scientific collaboration with his country. Even before He’s announcement, this trust has been challenged by a long string of missteps in science and technology that were easier to ignore when China was still a developing nation.</p>
<p>A group of American scholars recently issued <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/chinese-influence-american-interests-promoting-constructive-vigilance">a warning, through a report</a> by Stanford University’s public policy think tank the Hoover Institution, that Chinese actions <a href="http://www.ipcommission.org/report/index.html">violating intellectual property rights</a> and international norms warrant stepping up “constructive vigilance” and backing away from cooperation. “At the same time that China’s authoritarian system takes advantage of the openness of American society to seek influence,” the document continues, “it impedes legitimate efforts by American counterpart institutions to engage Chinese society on a reciprocal basis.” </p>
<p>China has had a spectacular rise as a global scientific producer and partner. The U.S. National Science Foundation reported that, in 2016, the number of <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244271">Chinese scientific publications outnumbered those from the U.S.</a> for the first time. China has risen to become the number one partner of American scientists, supplanting the U.K. But its status as a scientific power and partner can only be damaged by He’s ethics violation. His research is another black mark against China, joining widespread <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/world/asia/china-science-fraud-scandals.html">scientific plagiarism and fraud</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/us/politics/china-trump-cyberespionage.html">industrial espionage</a>.</p>
<h2>The view from inside China’s military</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/2166260/chinese-military-crackdown-forged-data-and-plagiarism-science">China’s own military has warned</a> about the damaging implications of China’s lack of integrity in science scholarship. </p>
<p>More is at stake than just reputation. Over the past three centuries, no country has been a global political leader without corresponding leadership in science and technology. These two systems – military advancement and science and technology discovery – are symbiotically linked. As historians J. Rogers Hollingsworth and David Gear have pointed out, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2080318">advances in science and technology feed military strength</a>: military procurement, specification and demand vitalize scientific research and technological development. Science is most strenuously tested in frontier defense applications.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248586/original/file-20181203-194935-1rsg6t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248586/original/file-20181203-194935-1rsg6t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248586/original/file-20181203-194935-1rsg6t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248586/original/file-20181203-194935-1rsg6t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248586/original/file-20181203-194935-1rsg6t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248586/original/file-20181203-194935-1rsg6t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248586/original/file-20181203-194935-1rsg6t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248586/original/file-20181203-194935-1rsg6t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Chinese child’s shoes, embroidered with the slogan ‘Those who invade my territory will be punished no matter how far away.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/China-Military/9b2a5566dbae4f7c98de49990fde2726/2/0">AP Photo/Ng Han Guan</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Leadership in military capabilities appears to be China’s goal. So says a <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2588.html">RAND Corporation report</a> just this past month, along with <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-06-10/china-s-master-plan-a-global-military-threat">others</a>. Although Premier Xi Jinping has written that China is committed to expanding involvement in the international system and the “<a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201807/17/WS5b4cf446a310796df4df6c54.html">open world economy</a>,” national actions suggest otherwise. China is investing in technologies that will challenge U.S. technological supremacy in artificial intelligence, supercomputing and quantum information systems, all of which will contribute to <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/china-wants-the-most-powerful-military-the-planet-by-2050-24779">military strength</a>.</p>
<p>China will not attain its military goals without attendant leadership in science and technology. And in turn, leadership in science and technology today requires international collaboration, as I detail in my recent book, “<a href="https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319949857">The Collaborative Era in Science</a>.” <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-fair-is-it-for-just-three-people-to-receive-the-nobel-prize-in-physics-85161">International collaborations</a> – especially those projects that achieve truly novel breakthroughs – require open cooperation, intense communication and a level of trust (often attached to reputation) that cannot be requisitioned with funds or forced by increasing the numbers of people working on it.</p>
<p>The collaborative era in science is a change from the historical conditions that nurtured the leadership of Britain, Germany, France and eventually the United States. In these earlier cases, leadership in both science and defense could be built at the national level. This is not the case for China. The globalized system, the abundance of knowledge and the openness of research practices means that nations cannot operate alone, as they once might have done, or as China might wish it could do.</p>
<p>So China’s inability to adhere to international ethical norms in the knowledge system ends up harming itself. A continued lack of collaborative spirit and practice will eventually deprive China and the world of its potential peaceful contributions. </p>
<p>A global system that works by reputation will shun those who do not play by the rules. Imitation and secrecy appear as fools gold to those who think they can close off and operate beyond the norms of 21st-century science. He Jiankui’s actions call into question whether China can be a good partner. This case of human gene editing leaves China viewed with wary skepticism by the rest of the world. It will be China’s choice going forward whether it can build a strong research system under the new rules of scientific collaboration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108009/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline Wagner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
In an era of big scientific collaborations, China’s renegade actions have hurt its reputation. As international researchers back away, it may be the country’s military that ultimately suffers.
Caroline Wagner, Milton & Roslyn Wolf Chair in International Affairs, The Ohio State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/102733
2018-09-11T14:57:53Z
2018-09-11T14:57:53Z
What universities in Uganda and Kenya can do to boost research partnerships
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235750/original/file-20180911-144473-1fj0yz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research partnerships can have powerful results.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Konstantin Chagin/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cross-border partnerships can be extremely valuable for universities in Africa. They can provide new revenue streams for institutions. It’s also a good way for institutions to improve their reputations and develop capacity. Partnerships have a broader value, too. They’re a good way to bolster multidisciplinary research that aims to solve complex societal problems.</p>
<p>But they aren’t simple to put together. Partnerships require proper organisation and governance. They must also be relevant to all the institutions and individuals involved. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I wanted to know how universities in neighbouring Kenya and Uganda are dealing with research partnerships. So we conducted <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351971461/chapters/10.4324%2F9781315266909-5">a study</a> at six universities – three in each country. We specifically examined the construction and governance of research collaborations at these institutions.</p>
<p>Our findings suggest that there is no “one size fits all” strategy for setting up such partnerships. Instead, each institution takes a different approach, using various institutional and departmental structures. Better, more standardised frameworks are needed especially in Uganda if the country’s universities are to benefit from transnational partnerships. </p>
<p>It may learn from its neighbour in this regard. Kenya’s National Research Fund is proving to be a good champion of such partnerships.</p>
<h2>How partnerships happen</h2>
<p>The first thing we wanted to know was how transnational partnerships develop among Ugandan and Kenyan universities. This happens in several ways, such as national calls for collaborative research or development initiatives. </p>
<p>Existing personal connections and informal encounters play a fundamental, indispensable role in enabling the initiation and development of sustainable partnerships. </p>
<p>There is a problem, though. Simply put, you can have bright people and great ideas – but without a solid policy framework these collaborations just won’t work in the long term.</p>
<p>Various studies <a href="https://www.acu.ac.uk/focus-areas/research-management-uptake/research-management-benchmarking/international-research-management-benchmarking-programme">have outlined</a> how important relevant, suitable policy frameworks are for successful research management. This is increasingly true in the context of fierce competition for scarce research funding. Policies also help to manage the growing interdependence of research institutions in a globalised world.</p>
<p>Having a policy framework also allows for coherence, predictability, consistency, and relevance in a university’s approach to external partnerships.</p>
<p>Our results suggest that Kenya is doing well to anchor its research and higher education partnerships in policy – at both the <a href="http://www.kenyalaw.org/lex/actview.xql?actid=No.%2028%20of%202013">national</a> and institutional levels.</p>
<p>Uganda is lagging behind. It has several policies linked to research collaboration at national level. But universities struggle to implement them. </p>
<p>None of the three Ugandan institutions we studied had partnership policies. This meant they had no framework to govern research collaborations. Collaborators and departments relied on ad hoc memoranda of understanding and agreements. They implemented partnerships on a project by project basis.</p>
<p>Kenya also fared better than Uganda on the governance front. All three Kenyan institutions had established structures and initiatives for running research partnerships. These included international offices, research and outreach units and administrative department units. The universities also employed programme directors or coordinators. Some used school or faculty committees to govern research partnerships.</p>
<p>In Uganda, partnership activities are managed by individuals, concerned departments, ad hoc departmental and university research committees formed to implement particular projects. The universities don’t have independent international or partnership offices. That affects the sustainability of many partnership projects. They grind to a halt or gradually fall apart when the collaborators aren’t able to continue coordinating the projects. </p>
<h2>Research champions needed</h2>
<p>A lack of adequate funding appears to be the biggest hurdle to both Ugandan and Kenyan universities initiating and implementing successful research partnerships. In some cases, there is funding available but universities and researchers don’t know about this. Many institutions don’t keep up to date databases of research funding opportunities.</p>
<p>Kenya’s government, meanwhile, is making steps towards increasing funding for research projects. This has been facilitated by the recent establishment of the <a href="http://researchfund.go.ke">Kenya National Research Fund</a>. The fund is driving a renewed focus on research and innovation activities. It is also encouraging a greater number of both <a href="http://researchfund.go.ke/bilateral-multilateral/">national and transnational partnerships</a> that address <a href="http://researchfund.go.ke/leap-agri-call/">national issues</a> such as information technology, agriculture and food security, among others. </p>
<p>In this way, Kenya is opening itself to sustainable partnerships with similar organisations and institutions elsewhere in the world.</p>
<p>By comparison, data suggests that <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351971461/chapters/10.4324%2F9781315266909-5">less than 4%</a> of Uganda’s research projects have led to partnerships that address national issues. Perhaps this is partly because Uganda doesn’t have a national research fund or similar champion.</p>
<h2>Some positive signs</h2>
<p>There are some shifts in the right direction. The universities we studied are beginning to develop relatively more formal organisational structures, policy and regulatory frameworks to guide research partnership and management practices. </p>
<p>This might signal a focused move towards institutionalising partnership initiatives. And that will help universities in Kenya and Uganda to reap the benefits of transnational research collaboration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102733/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This study was funded by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)</span></em></p>
Better, more standardised frameworks are needed especially in Uganda if its universities are to benefit from transnational partnerships.
Jackline Nyerere, Senior Lecturer of Educational Leadership and Policy, Kenyatta University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/102583
2018-09-05T13:57:15Z
2018-09-05T13:57:15Z
Research-intensive universities in Africa? A model of how to build them
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234772/original/file-20180904-45175-9hz73b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C184%2C801%2C792&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research-intensive universities can produce world class researchers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/es/download/confirm/778022680?size=huge_jpg">anyaivanova/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 13·5% of the <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/7-facts-about-population-in-sub-saharan-africa">global population</a> but <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/237371468204551128/pdf/910160WP0P126900disclose09026020140.pdf">less than 1%</a> of global research output. In 2008, Africa produced <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31068-7/fulltext">27 000 published papers</a> – the same number as the Netherlands. </p>
<p>There are some areas of improvement. A 2014 World Bank <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/237371468204551128/A-decade-of-development-in-sub-Saharan-African-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-research">study</a> showed that the quantity and quality of sub-Saharan Africa’s research had increased substantially in the previous 20 years. It more than doubled its annual research output from 2003 to 2012. And it increased its share of global research during the same period.</p>
<p>But Africa’s overall research record remains poor. Part of the problem is that the continent contributes less than 1% of the <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS?view=map">global expenditure on research and development</a>. African governments don’t spend a significant percentage of their gross domestic product (GDP) on research. </p>
<p>Another issue is that sub-Saharan Africa depends greatly on international collaboration and visiting academics for its research output. In 2012 southern Africa produced 79% of all its research output through international collaborations. In east Africa the number stood at 70% and in west and central Africa at 45%. </p>
<p>This stands in stark contrast to intra-Africa collaboration which is extremely rare. Collaboration <a href="http://www.trustafrica.org/en/resource">among local researchers</a> ranges from 0·9% in west and central Africa to 2·9% in southern Africa.</p>
<p>Limited government funding for universities lies at the root of these challenges. It is here that one of the solutions must be found. It’s time for African universities, governments, and development partners to take action by fostering the development of research-active universities on the continent.</p>
<p>The model we have developed at the <a href="http://cartafrica.org/">Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa</a> (CARTA) provides evidence that revitalisation of the African academy in Africa by Africans is possible. CARTA is a consortium of eight African universities and four African research centres. </p>
<p>CARTA has been <a href="https://www.sida.se/English/publications/139119/evaluation-of-the-consortium-for-advanced-research-training-in-africa-carta---final-report1/">independently evaluated</a> and recommended as a model that should be more widely used.</p>
<h2>Action plan</h2>
<p>Three interlinked actions are crucial to revitalise African higher education. The first is the differentiation of the continent’s higher education system. Some universities must become research-intensive. Their resources must be focused on graduate training and research. </p>
<p>Second, new funding mechanisms must be created for these research-intensive universities. Finally, new accountability systems must be put in place to ensure high standards. There must also be room for new institutions to enter the system.</p>
<p>One particularly compelling reason to differentiate research-intensive universities from those focused on undergraduate teaching is that sub-Saharan Africa’s population is <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/Africa-urbanization-cities-double-population-2050-4%20ways-thrive/">set to double by 2050</a>. This will create continued demand for higher education. That, in turn, necessitates appropriate training of faculty with advanced degrees. </p>
<p>It is this cohort who will be needed to staff the new universities and maintain high standards across the higher education system. Research-intensive universities are the best place to train such people.</p>
<h2>Funding and accountability</h2>
<p>New funding mechanisms will be needed to support research-intensive universities. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Firstly, these institutions should commit their own resources to research. </p></li>
<li><p>Secondly, African governments must increase their support for research in general. They must also provide targeted funding for research-intensive universities – money that is over and above the currently available operational funds and tuition income. Governments can foster research collaboration through joint basket funding for research to support regional multicountry collaborative research. </p></li>
<li><p>Regional and continental bodies, bilateral and multilateral development partners, and philanthropic foundations need to complement these investments. These funders should designate a portion of their investments in Africa to support research-intensive universities. </p></li>
<li><p>Citizens, private corporations, and alumni should create Endowed Chairs at research-intensive universities. </p></li>
<li><p>Partnerships with non-university research entities should be encouraged and promoted. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The CARTA initiative, working with its northern partners, has drawn on some of these funding sources and created partnerships that have enabled it to bolster the continent’s research capacity. Some of what it’s done could be replicated.</p>
<p>We’ve enrolled more than 200 PhD fellows since 2010 – all of whom were recruited from the staff of the African consortium member institutions. We’ve also worked with more than 160 PhD supervisors to revitalise PhD supervision, and worked with more than 570 university staff to make our member institutions more supportive of research. </p>
<p>Our PhD fellows and graduates have produced 579 peer reviewed publications and 36 have won post-doc awards or grants to do post-PhD research and they have raised more than USD$9 million to support their PhD research. CARTA has invested more than USD$1.4 million in infrastructure at member institutions and has developed an <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-solve-complex-health-issues-train-scholars-to-think-across-disciplines-92188">interdisciplinary seminar programme</a> to <a href="http://journal.cpha.ca/index.php/cjph/article/view/5511">promote high quality graduates</a>.</p>
<p>The funding mechanisms we suggest will empower research-intensive universities on several fronts. They’ll be able to attract leading researchers, create infrastructure, and develop support systems for research. </p>
<p>This is also a way to bring African citizens in the diaspora back to replicate their research programmes on the continent. </p>
<p>The research-intensive universities will provide a base for training younger researchers. This will create a virtuous cycle. Output via research publications will increase. Internationally competitive researchers will remain on or return to the continent. Grants will be generated. All of these factors are critical to ensuring long-term sustainability.</p>
<p>Designated research-intensive universities mustn’t be allowed to become complacent. There must also be room for upcoming, high-achieving universities to enter the space. We propose ongoing peer review every three to five years. Accountability and transparency will be key. The review function could be entrusted to a supranational body with wide representation. </p>
<p>Universities that have previously been designated as research-intensive could lose their designation depending on their research track record.</p>
<h2>An appropriate base</h2>
<p>There’s no doubt that while universities in sub-Saharan Africa have been marginal to global knowledge production, they have started to turn the corner.</p>
<p>But challenges remain. This is particularly true for universities that aspire to become research-intensive. Working with African universities to effectively make this transition could transform sub-Saharan Africa’s higher education landscape. </p>
<p><em>This piece is based on <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31068-7/fulltext">an article</a> that appeared in The Lancet. It was co-authored with Laban Peter Ayiro, Philip Cotton, Adam Habib, Peter Mulwa Felix Mbithi, Alfred Mtenje, Barnabas Nawangwe, Eyitope O Ogunbodede, Idowu Olayinka, Frederick Golooba-Mutebi and Alex Ezeh.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102583/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharon Fonn is the co-director of CARTA and works at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg South Africa. She receives funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Sida,, the DELTAS Africa Initiative an independent funding scheme of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS)’s Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) and supported by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency) with funding from the Wellcome Trust (UK) and the UK government. She is received funding for unrelated research from the SA MRC.</span></em></p>
Working with African universities to effectively become research-intensive could transform sub-Saharan Africa’s higher education landscape.
Sharon Fonn, Professsor of Public Health; Co-Director Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa; Panel Member, Private Healthcare Market Inquiry, University of the Witwatersrand
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/100852
2018-08-08T14:48:29Z
2018-08-08T14:48:29Z
North-South research partnerships must break old patterns for real change
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230393/original/file-20180802-136661-1fc8x4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Listening and learning during a Sustainable Futures in Action meeting in Kampala, Uganda.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Molly Gilmour </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-future-of-development">the 1940s</a> major world powers like the US, the UK and the United Nations have made moves to spread their scientific, economic, industrial, and human rights progress to countries and regions that are seen as less developed, vulnerable or deprived in one way or another.</p>
<p>This has taken the form of a substantial, varied – and largely well-intentioned – contribution of huge financial and human resources from the global north to the global south. Today the flow of aid money, resources, and increasing global morality and mobility is building ever broader pipelines between these different regions.</p>
<p>And yet from where we stand as individual researchers, with funding and
passion to share, we see an unsettling and consistent characteristic of this
development history. The global north has experienced a gradual increase of economic strength and environmental protection, through jobs, career development, cheap goods and services. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the global south has undergone a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/26/land-degradation-is-undermining-human-wellbeing-un-report-warns">sustained</a> <a href="http://imrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Migration-Urbanisation-and-Food-Security-in-Cities-of-the-Global-South-Conference-Report.pdf">degradation</a> of autonomy, fertile land, food security and cultural literacies. All this has occurred through an imposition of foreign ideas, materials, ideologies and knowledge systems. </p>
<p>Despite all the good intentions, and the promises and provision of funding and expertise, global challenges persist and in some cases, have increased. As academics in social justice research, we are working in relation to a world of increasing social fragmentation and ecological vulnerability. This is happening “on our watch”; at the hands of our methods and practices and paradigms of research and professional practice. </p>
<p>That’s why we’re trying to do things differently. The <a href="http://www.sustainablefuturesinafrica.com/">Sustainable Futures in Africa Network</a>, funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund, was formed in 2016. Our aim is to resist becoming another project within this trajectory of north to south research and development. We’re working to resist “business-as-usual”. The network has hubs in Nigeria, Uganda, Botswana, Malawi and the UK. </p>
<p>What we’re doing is taking a completely different approach to research by ditching old techniques and approaches and breaking research moulds that have become entrenched over the past eight decades. For example, we’re pioneering ways of engaging with communities that allow them to contribute their traditional knowledge and co-design the research agenda.</p>
<p>Our practices allow us to genuinely and ethically communicate and collaborate with communities, colleagues, and stakeholders. This is especially crucial when it comes to different knowledge systems. For example, in Nigeria soil scientists are engaging with spiritual beliefs that inform communities of the meaning of gold found in their soil. These ideas conflict with what is known in terms of Western science, and yet they serve a real purpose, have real impacts, and are “true” and “factful” to the communities that live according to such beliefs.</p>
<p>Different approaches are imperative if development initiatives are to buck the worrying trends that have cemented inequality and lessened sustainability.</p>
<h2>How we work</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/global-academic-collaboration-a-new-form-of-colonisation-61382">Collaboration</a> between the global north and global south too often follows a tick-box approach. A named global south partner ticks a box to indicate that a project is complying with Official Development Assistance criteria. A local translator ticks a box to indicate that local people are being consulted. A meeting in the country of a Southern partner indicates that the work must be collaborative in nature. </p>
<p>Typically the results will confirm the (Northern) “expert’s” hypothesis and support <a href="http://trumpeter.athabascau.ca/index.php/trumpet/article/viewFile/358/563">monocultures of the mind</a>. What should be true collaboration, then, results in everyone thinking the same way.</p>
<p>Much formal funded research conducted in the name of development and social justice begins with the great promise of expertise and resources. This merely serves the validation and purpose of the “expert”, a person who is typically from the global north or a university setting.</p>
<p>We do things differently. We begin by acknowledging our own implications in the issues we address: we ask how <em>our own</em> practices, assumptions and behaviours contribute to the very inequities and issues we seek to improve. We prioritise creating a safe and honest common ground where new knowledges can be shared and new solutions can be co-designed.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="http://web.monitor.co.ug/Supplement/2018/07/AWOC072020118.pdf">in Uganda</a> we engaged in fieldwork to study water and food security issues using a “no method” approach with no predetermined research design. This meant no questionnaire or sampling technique. Instead the team spent time with families in their homes, listened to them and allowed the communities to direct the research enquiry. </p>
<p>Our ideas and expectations were confounded. The extreme problems these communities faced were largely due to the misplaced aid and intervention of previous projects. By listening, and bringing our own knowledge to the table, we were able to understand these communities as complex spaces of social, cultural and ecological needs.</p>
<p>Another difference lies in the way the network shares insights with its stakeholders. There are no shiny reports crammed with tables and graphs, sent to external offices so that a box is ticked. Rather, policy makers, researchers, and community members are brought together in common spaces – such as a community hall constructed entirely from recycled plastic water bottles and a timber frame in an urban slum in Kampala – so they can engage differently with the factors, people and places at play in a given issue. </p>
<h2>Change is crucial</h2>
<p>These experiences have proved to us that decisive changes to the traditional methodologies of collaboration are necessary. Without change, the trajectory of growth and development in the world will remain consistent with what’s happened over the past 80 years: the north will keep getting richer and the south, poorer. It’s time to abandon well-trodden paths and forge new approaches.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Dr Deepa Pullanikkatil, who recently completed a residency at the University of Glasgow funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, UK. She is the co-founder of Abundance (www.abundanceworldwide.org).</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100852/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mia Perry receives funding from the Global Challenges Research Fund within the UK Research and Innovation Institution and the Scottish Funding Council</span></em></p>
Without change, the trajectory of growth and development in the world will remain consistent with that of the past 80 years.
Mia Perry, Senior Lecturer, Education, Arts, Literacies, University of Glasgow
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/88581
2017-12-06T13:35:21Z
2017-12-06T13:35:21Z
Engineering research in Africa is growing but it’s still a patchy picture
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197773/original/file-20171205-22967-swwkhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Engineering can greatly bolster any country's development and growth.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Africa’s vast land mass and rich natural and mineral resources make it strategically important and an increasingly significant <a href="https://na.unep.net/atlas/africa/downloads/chapters/Africa_Atlas_English_Intro.pdf">global player</a>. It is also a dynamic young continent: about 60% of its residents are aged <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34188248">below 25</a>.</p>
<p>The African Union is trying to harness this enormous potential through its <a href="https://au.int/en/agenda2063">Agenda 2063</a>, which includes elevating Africa through improved education and application of science and technology in development. </p>
<p>Engineering is an important branch of science and technology. It has a significant impact on the overall development of any nation, region or continent. It is, as Professor Calestous Juma <a href="http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/opinion/Engineering-is-the-engine-that-will-power-Africa-s-growth-/440808-2309528-pq151w/index.html">has written</a>, an engine to power growth – especially in Africa.</p>
<p>The World Bank predicts that Africa needs to spend about <a href="http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/opinion/Engineering-is-the-engine-that-will-power-Africa-s-growth-/440808-2309528-pq151w/index.html">USD$93 billion per year</a> in the coming years to improve its infrastructure. Part of this investment must be in world class engineering education and research.</p>
<p>Given the discipline’s importance, I wanted to understand how Africa is performing in terms of engineering research. How much are the continent’s researchers contributing to new ideas and thinking around engineering? To find out, I <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20421338.2017.1341732">searched, downloaded and analysed</a> scholarly publication data from academic publisher Elsevier’s citation and abstracting service, <a href="https://www.scopus.com/">Scopus</a>®. It’s a huge index of articles, covering 22,800 journals belonging to more than 5,000 international publishers across disciplines. </p>
<p>I also examined how many times articles from Africa were being cited, which is crucial to map the relevance and impact of any research. For instance, one of the criteria for winning a <a href="http://www.lindau-nobel.org/blog-on-fundamental-science/">Nobel Prize</a> in science is how frequently a researcher’s work has been cited.</p>
<p>The data I analysed shows that scholarly research output in terms of journal articles, conference papers and so on in engineering fields from Africa has increased over the past two decades. The number remains small in comparison to other, more developed continents and countries. But the continent’s contribution to global thinking and understanding about engineering is growing, and this should be celebrated.</p>
<h2>Analysing data</h2>
<p>My analysis reveals that Africa has recorded a tremendous growth in its output of academic engineering research over the past 20 years. In total, 75,157 scholarly articles about engineering subjects emerged from Africa between 1996 and 2016. About 1,500 of these were published in the first seven years under review. In the past three years, about 9,000 engineering articles from Africa were published annually. That’s a significant percentage increase.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197855/original/file-20171205-23009-1tqh4ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197855/original/file-20171205-23009-1tqh4ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197855/original/file-20171205-23009-1tqh4ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197855/original/file-20171205-23009-1tqh4ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197855/original/file-20171205-23009-1tqh4ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197855/original/file-20171205-23009-1tqh4ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197855/original/file-20171205-23009-1tqh4ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197855/original/file-20171205-23009-1tqh4ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Africa’s engineering research output over 20 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php">Scimago</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The problem is that African countries’ outputs are not uniform. South Africa leads the pack, with 22,156 articles over 20 years. This puts it at 41st in the world for output in engineering research. It is followed by Algeria (16,617 articles) and Tunisia (14,805 articles). Some countries have barely contributed to engineering research: Cape Verde produced only nine articles in 20 years; the Central African Republic just seven and Somalia only six.</p>
<p>The continent is also not producing nearly as much engineering research as others and other regions.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197935/original/file-20171206-910-pqurdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197935/original/file-20171206-910-pqurdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197935/original/file-20171206-910-pqurdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197935/original/file-20171206-910-pqurdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197935/original/file-20171206-910-pqurdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197935/original/file-20171206-910-pqurdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197935/original/file-20171206-910-pqurdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197935/original/file-20171206-910-pqurdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Africa’s engineering research output is still lower than other continents and regions, but its growth over 20 years has been encouraging.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Scimago</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I also wanted to know how often African researchers’ work was being cited by others. This is a good way to understand the impact a piece of research has, and is called citation analysis. It counts the number of times an author’s article is cited in other scholarly works. And <a href="https://medium.com/@write4research/why-are-citations-important-in-research-writing-97fb6d854b47">citations are important</a> because they reveal that a piece of research is being used by others.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20421338.2017.1341732">The results</a> are encouraging. The average citation for academic engineering papers from Africa is 5.48 per paper. This is almost equal to the performance of papers from Asia, and is well above the average citations received by papers from Eastern Europe. This suggests that African engineering research is influencing others’ thinking and contributing to global knowledge about the discipline.</p>
<p>So how can Africa improve its engineering research output, especially with an eye to meeting the goals of Agenda 2063? Collaboration will be crucial.</p>
<h2>Collaborative work</h2>
<p>South Africa does well with collaboration. Articles from the country tend to involve more than one research organisation or institution. Co-authored articles are common. Its researchers work with others on the continent and with global partners. Countries in North Africa, however, are less active when it comes to collaboration. </p>
<p>Africa-Africa collaboration, involving institutions and individuals across the continent, needs to be strengthened. This is because only African countries can truly understand the continent’s pressing needs, and develop appropriate solutions. Countries like South Africa that perform well collaboratively can offer support and advice to others. </p>
<p>It may also be time to set up an exclusively African citation database. Even Scopus®, the world’s largest indexing and abstracting database, offers very limited coverage of African science. By developing a resource that focuses only on African engineering research, the continent will be able to get a more complete, clear picture of its output and respond accordingly. The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa is creating an <a href="http://africancitationindex.org/">African Citation database</a>, but it will be some time before this is a fully fledged searchable database.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88581/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Swapan Kumar Patra receives funding from National Research Foundation, Republic of South Africa, Post doctoral research fellowship, through Tshwane University of Technology</span></em></p>
Africa has recorded a tremendous growth in its output of academic engineering research over the past 20 years. Greater collaboration can increase this growth even more.
Swapan Kumar Patra, Tshwane University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/85161
2017-10-04T00:42:09Z
2017-10-04T00:42:09Z
How fair is it for just three people to receive the Nobel Prize in physics?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188682/original/file-20171003-18916-171bnxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Alfred Nobel didn't foresee the current era of mega scientific collaboration.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nobelprize.org/press/#/image-details/584fbf368409c20d00efa01f/552bd85dccc8e20c00e7f979?sh=false">© Nobel Media AB Pi Frisk</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Nobel Foundation statutes decree that “<a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/facts/">in no case</a>” can a Nobel Prize be divided between more than three people. So it may not raise many eyebrows that the 2017 award in physics went to <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2017/press.html">just three scientists on the LIGO team</a> for their “decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.”</p>
<p>But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/497557a">science is increasingly collaborative</a> across teams (including scientists and engineers), across nations and across disciplines. The majority of all scientific articles <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1136099">are co-authored</a>. Of these, over 25 percent are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0131816">internationally co-authored</a>. LIGO – more than most projects – represents these trends. One of the group’s most important papers involves <a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102">355 co-authors from at least 20 countries</a>.</p>
<p>So with cutting-edge science being carried out in large international collaborations, who actually winds up on the rostrum in Stockholm? As a student of science dynamics, I have tracked how and why scientists link up with one another, in what fields, and how it improves the outcomes. These allegiances have an impact on who receives an award like a Nobel Prize, since international collaborations are more highly cited than national or sole-authored work. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188685/original/file-20171003-739-ejs8rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188685/original/file-20171003-739-ejs8rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188685/original/file-20171003-739-ejs8rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188685/original/file-20171003-739-ejs8rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188685/original/file-20171003-739-ejs8rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188685/original/file-20171003-739-ejs8rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188685/original/file-20171003-739-ejs8rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188685/original/file-20171003-739-ejs8rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A LIGO optics technician who is not a recipient of the Nobel Prize.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/image/ligo20151214">Matt Heintze/Caltech/MIT/LIGO Lab</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Shifting norms around collaboration and credit</h2>
<p>Scientific discoveries these days typically rely on advances in the underlying technology and equipment used in experimentation. To enable breakthroughs, LIGO, CERN, the Human Genome Project and others rely on new technologies, which in turn are built often by large international teams. And within science, it’s becoming standard to more broadly recognize contributions like these than in the past. </p>
<p>This is a shift in social behavior, since scientists have always had collaborators and helpers – they just didn’t grant them a place on the “author” list. Now, there is a greater tendency to list the technical people who make discoveries possible. At CERN, for example, new discoveries, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.191803">such as the Higgs Boson</a>, are claimed in articles that list engineers and computer scientists as well as the theorists who develop the experiments.</p>
<p>And the fact that the Nobel Prize is offered specifically for physics is out of step with the tendency for interdisciplinary contributions to be fundamental to breakthroughs. A quick glance at the list of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.93.042006">contributing institutions for LIGO</a> shows collaborators from a school of mathematics, space science, departments of informatics, as well as cosmologists, astrophysics observatories, supercomputing centers and many others.</p>
<p>While practitioners have expanded the way contributions are credited, awards like the Nobel Prizes haven’t caught up. The little bit of science history taught in school still focuses on individual contributors such as Marie Curie and Albert Einstein. Harder to explain or visualize are the cross-disciplinary collaborations that constitute most of science today.</p>
<h2>The rich get richer</h2>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134164">study I conducted with the Nobel Library in Sweden</a>, we compared Nobel Prize winners in physiology or medicine to a matched group of scientists to examine productivity, impact, coauthorship and international collaboration patterns. The laureate’s co-author network reveals significant differences from the non-laureate network. Laureates are more likely to build bridges across a network by reaching out to a non-obvious collaborator, such as <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2000/">physicist Jack Kilby</a> working with a materials scientist to develop new materials for microprocessors. They were more likely to exploit “structural holes” – gaps between fields that offer enticing but unrealized possibilities. </p>
<p>This process builds their reputation within as well as across scientific fields. (For example, both physicists and materials scientists read Kilby’s paper.) In science, reputation is the coin of the realm. It’s gained through cooperation as well as attention to the outputs of science – <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/2091085">the journal article</a>.</p>
<p>When publishing any scientific article, there is a basic conundrum – someone must receive the prime place on the list of authors. In some fields, authors covet the first place; in others, the last place. And the benefits of being the primary author go far beyond a single article. There’s a phenomenon called the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.159.3810.56">“Matthew Effect” in science</a>, referring to the observation in the Gospel of Matthew that the “rich get richer.” The noted author of an article is much more likely to receive attention into the future.</p>
<p>Creative networkers like Jack Kilby grow their network in several fields as a result of their work, enhancing citations and reputation.</p>
<p>Searchable databases such as Google Scholar accentuate the Matthew effect, since a search will prioritize the articles with lots of citations. It has long been noted that <a href="http://www.enid-europe.org/conference/abstract%20pdf/Klavans_Boyack_superstars.pdf">only a few “superstars” in science emerge over time</a> – but current practices have supercharged the process because of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.98.2.404">agglomerating effects of being listed as the primary author</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188684/original/file-20171003-18916-1lcaai2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188684/original/file-20171003-18916-1lcaai2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188684/original/file-20171003-18916-1lcaai2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188684/original/file-20171003-18916-1lcaai2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188684/original/file-20171003-18916-1lcaai2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188684/original/file-20171003-18916-1lcaai2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188684/original/file-20171003-18916-1lcaai2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188684/original/file-20171003-18916-1lcaai2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Nobel stage in Stockholm doesn’t have space for everyone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nobelprize.org/press/#/image-details/585104ccffb1110d00062b3e/552bd85dccc8e20c00e7f979?sh=false">© Nobel Media AB Pi Frisk.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who stays behind</h2>
<p>The Matthew Effect is likely part of the reason that three white men came out “on top” in the case of the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics. The downside of needing a primary author on a collaborative paper means that collaborators, such as notable women who also worked on LIGO, sit in the shadows. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.1097">Women’s names are much more likely</a> to be listed second, third or farther down the list of authors on scientific papers. It can be difficult for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2001003">women to claim to top spot</a>.</p>
<p>No doubt when the current Nobel Prize winners in physics accept their award, they will point to “others” who have been instrumental in helping. Yet, the essentially collaborative nature of the work – many paying nations, many collaborating disciplines, a multitude of people – begs the question: Can the award fairly be claimed by three (white, American, male) people? The Nobel Prize, developed to recognize 19th-century creativity, may no longer reflect the true contributions within 21st-century science.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85161/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline Wagner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Today’s scientific research is characterized by interdisciplinary, international collaboration. Awards like the Nobel Prizes haven’t caught up.
Caroline Wagner, Milton & Roslyn Wolf Chair in International Affairs, The Ohio State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/76011
2017-04-10T05:24:18Z
2017-04-10T05:24:18Z
Why it’s the right time for Australia and India to collaborate on higher education
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164620/original/image-20170410-29403-118vwbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Malcolm Turnbull arrives in India to discuss higher education, among other things. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2060, India will be the most populous country, and likely have the largest economy, in the world. Roughly 20 million young people turn 18 every year, and according to some estimates, India’s middle class now numbers 300 million. </p>
<p>We have about 40 years in Australia to become a key partner of this future global centre. And there is no better starting point than higher education.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Education Minister Simon Birmingham are currently visiting India, in part to promote higher education collaboration. Minister Birmingham has <a href="https://twitter.com/Birmo/status/850987387664519169">stated</a> that his key objectives will include developing opportunities for Australian providers to deliver quality higher education in India, and emphasising Australia as an international education destination. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"850987387664519169"}"></div></p>
<p>As higher education providers from competitor countries such as the UK are deepening their involvement in the Indian education sector, now is a crucial time for Australia to act.</p>
<h2>University system in India</h2>
<p>India contains a complex higher education landscape, with 760 universities and around 38,000 colleges. </p>
<p>Central government universities absorb just 3% of students and are relatively good quality. A wide range of state universities affiliate private and state colleges, which also award degrees. There is also a class of “deemed university” which was introduced fairly recently to cover private institutions established usually by business entrepreneurs.</p>
<h2>…and the challenges it faces</h2>
<p>As former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/higher-education-in-india-has-hit-a-low-prime-minsiter-manmohan-singh/1/249035.html">stated</a> - and as a <a href="http://cprindia.org/news/6053">new book</a> shows in clear terms – the Indian higher education system faces major challenges. </p>
<p>This partly reflects a decision by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to channel research funds to independent non-teaching institutes, which has left central and state universities relatively starved of funds. </p>
<p>Indian universities – even elite institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology – do not feature in the top 100 universities in global rankings.</p>
<p>The upshot for the ordinary Indian student is that he or she is unlikely to be taught by a research active faculty member, unlikely to be able to acquire a good education with up-to-date curricula, and unlikely to have access to excellent facilities either in terms of teaching or extra-curricular activities. </p>
<p>Such deficits particularly affect the poor, women, rural areas, and north India.</p>
<h2>So how does Australia fit into the picture?</h2>
<p>The prospects for Australia to engage successfully with Indian higher education institutions are therefore not very high. </p>
<p>Certainly, the focus to date has been on working with the top institutions. But this means the mass of state-level universities and colleges do not typically receive the benefits of foreign collaboration. </p>
<p>Added to the problems are a relatively low knowledge base in Australia on Indian higher education and legal restrictions on foreign universities opening up campuses in India. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Education_Providers_Bill,_2013">Foreign Providers Bill</a>, which would change the law in this regard, has been stalled. But India’s current government is keen to reform higher education. </p>
<h2>Push for collaboration</h2>
<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi has indicated his desire to develop foreign collaborations. </p>
<p>The flow of Indian staff and students to Australia, and the beginnings of revitalisation of Indian studies in Australia, bodes well in terms of the development of partnerships and joint working. </p>
<p>There are success stories, too, such as joint PhD programmes at Monash University and the University of Melbourne, as well as comprehensive ties with Indian higher education developed at Deakin University – among a fairly wide range of examples.</p>
<p>Still, there is no sense in fudging. Such examples are – to use an Indian phrase – like the cumin seed in the camel’s mouth. </p>
<h2>Five ways to do this</h2>
<p>Australia, with a strong higher education sector and a particular strength in terms of the development of world-class full-spectrum universities, could expand collaborative efforts in several ways. These include:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Agree on the mutual recognition of qualifications in India and Australia. There are currently issues with the recognition of Indian students’ prior learning when they come to study in Australia. India also does not recognise some Australian qualifications, such as accelerated masters’ degrees. </p></li>
<li><p>Lobby the Indian government to allow Australian universities to <a href="https://theconversation.com/report-urges-india-to-allow-overseas-universities-to-open-up-campuses-61435">open campuses</a> in India where there is a compelling rationale for doing so. Apart from the direct benefits this would bring in terms of making foreign education available more cheaply to Indian students, it would allow the Indian government to benchmark their institutions against Australian counterparts.</p></li>
<li><p>Develop a wide range of staff and student champions of the Australia-India relationship, building on programmes already running and activity already being generated among staff. </p></li>
<li><p>Develop a comprehensive scholarship scheme for non-elite Indian students to facilitate the flow of talented students to Australia. This could be funded using a small percentage of the money universities receive from international students. It would help to build understanding of India in Australia, and also increase the diversity of Australian universities. A key advantage of this scheme is that it would allow Australian universities to develop reach into “ordinary India”.</p></li>
<li><p>Develop a set of specialist collaborative research institutes in India around key challenges facing India and Australia, for example around water, infrastructure, poverty, security, health, and governance. These could serve as a basis for full spectrum campuses in the future.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Given the inventiveness of other countries in devising ways of collaborating with India, there will be real costs if Australia does not engage with these ideas in terms of opportunities for research collaboration and offering valuable learning experiences to Indian students. </p>
<p>The UK, in particular, has made great strides in this space, such as the Research Councils UK partnership with India, even as its visa restrictions hobble efforts to develop student mobility between India and the UK. </p>
<p>India and Australia have complementary strengths in higher education. A strategic approach could yield major benefits for both countries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76011/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig Jeffrey has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. He is affiliated with the Australia India Institute.</span></em></p>
India will soon have the largest economy in the world. A way for Australia to benefit is to collaborative with universities.
Craig Jeffrey, Director and CEO of the Australia India Institute; Professor of Development Geography, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/71223
2017-01-16T15:19:18Z
2017-01-16T15:19:18Z
How plugging into well-connected colleagues can help research fly
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152622/original/image-20170113-11191-hv7zq4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Getting input from well-connected academics and researchers is crucial to a paper's scientific impact.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Informal intellectual collaboration <a href="http://jfe.rochester.edu/jointed.pdf">is crucial</a> for good social science research. This includes interactions with colleagues to improve a paper before it is sent to a journal.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=2877586">new research</a> explored the value of informal intellectual collaboration. It highlights the importance of social networks in academia. </p>
<p>What we uncovered suggests the scientific impact of a research paper increases with every additional commenter who provides feedback. This impact is measured by the number of citations over a paper’s lifespan. The same holds when we look at the probability of publishing a paper in top journals.</p>
<p>But here’s the true novelty of our paper: it found that the feedback of more central or connected people is more valuable than less central, less connected ones when it comes to impact. And no, it’s not as simple as just asking your most senior colleague for their input. Seniority isn’t what matters. It’s all about how well connected an academic or researcher is.</p>
<p>This is important information. Our results should encourage university management to actively encourage collaboration among scientists, across departments, and across universities – and to make networking and seeking feedback part of PhD training.</p>
<h2>Connectedness is key</h2>
<p>So how do you define “well connected” in this case?</p>
<p>A researcher is well connected in a social network because they are connected to other well-connected researchers. We used what might sound like a tautological idea in our research: the so-called <em>eigenvector</em> centrality, which posits that if you know important people you are probably important in that field, too. It is the <a href="http://www.math.cornell.edu/%7Emec/Winter2009/RalucaRemus/Lecture3/lecture3.html">same idea</a> that allows Google’s search algorithm to identify relevant websites.</p>
<p>But, as we’ve already pointed out, our findings weren’t about “importance”, or status. These eigenvector central academics are not necessarily the most well known or most senior. And they aren’t always affiliated to the most prestigious universities. Yet in the social network they occupy influential positions. It’s about connections. Think of them as opinion leaders.</p>
<p>Feedback from eigenvector central academics has a much larger impact on a paper’s publication success than feedback from isolated loners. Highly connected commenters may point authors to emerging <a href="http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/REST_a_00430">new topics</a> or the most rewarding avenues for future research. </p>
<p>To reach these conclusions, we built the first and most comprehensive view of the social network structure among financial economists. It connects authors and acknowledged commenters from published papers. This is a novel approach because it captures all those that have contributed to a paper, not only authors.</p>
<p>Our innovative approach was to use acknowledgements as a primary source of data. In financial economics, authors often acknowledge from which colleagues they have received helpful feedback. We collected more than 5,800 research papers from six major financial economics journals. About 90% of these acknowledge helpful input by colleagues.</p>
<p>After consolidation we create the network. Two researchers are connected when they have co-authored a paper or one acknowledges the other. This network connects about 7,500 researchers and indicates information flows between them. Then we computed the network positions and ranked individuals according to their eigenvector centrality. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152626/original/image-20170113-11183-1x3zl1k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152626/original/image-20170113-11183-1x3zl1k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152626/original/image-20170113-11183-1x3zl1k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152626/original/image-20170113-11183-1x3zl1k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152626/original/image-20170113-11183-1x3zl1k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152626/original/image-20170113-11183-1x3zl1k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152626/original/image-20170113-11183-1x3zl1k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152626/original/image-20170113-11183-1x3zl1k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A visualisation of the largest connected component of the network of intellectual collaboration in financial economics using publications from 2009 to 20011. Red links connect researchers when they have co-authored a paper, blue links indicate that one acknowledged the other, and purple links indicate the both happened. The darker the node the more important the researcher is in terms of eigenvector centrality.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Such an analysis helps uncover patterns and structures that remain hidden when looking at individual researchers only. </p>
<p>We then used a quasi-natural experiment – the assignment of discussants at top conferences – to show our main argument: getting feedback from a colleague increases the scientific impact of a paper more if the colleague is more eigenvector central in the social network of their profession.</p>
<p>On our <a href="http://www.central-places.net/index">website</a>, we have developed an interactive tool where financial economists can find themselves on our database.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=2709107">companion paper</a> we explore the determinants of the most eigenvector central financial economists. That is, we contrasted their eigenvector centrality rank with their individual characteristics. We found that traditional author metrics such as citation counts or their number of published papers cannot explain which researchers are eigenvector central. </p>
<p>One part of the answer is certainly that citation counts have many <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v465/n7300/full/465870a.html">problems</a> and poorly capture true academic strength. Another one is that is generally difficult to identify the opinion leaders unless you know all the network.</p>
<h2>New insights in the sociology of economics</h2>
<p>Our analysis is not exhaustive and research is ongoing. But it is clear that understanding knowledge flows helps in understanding <a href="http://voxeu.org/article/nine-facts-about-top-journals-economics">productivity differentials</a> among scientists. </p>
<p>Hopefully these results will inspire university managers to actively encourage collaboration among scientists, across department and across universities. </p>
<p>Our results also support calls to measure scientific impact <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/04/20/scholarly-behaviour-evaluation-criteria-citations/">broader</a>, and not just based on citations. </p>
<p>Finally, our findings highlight the importance of sufficient travel funding for academics, given the crucial role of <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/08/16/the-last-great-unknown-the-impact-of-academic-conferences/">academic conferences</a> as a networking opportunity.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Authors’ note: This article is based on a <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2017/01/10/feedback-helps-increase-the-impact-of-academic-research-even-more-so-when-coming-from-well-connected-colleagues/">post</a> written for the London School of Economics’ blog.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71223/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The scientific impact of a research paper increases with every additional commenter who provides feedback – particularly if the comment came from a well-connected academic.
Michael E. Rose, PhD Candidate in Economics, University of Cape Town
Co-Pierre Georg, Senior Lecturer, African Institute for Financial Markets and Risk Management, University of Cape Town
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/66607
2016-11-17T19:07:48Z
2016-11-17T19:07:48Z
Scholarly collaboration: it’s time for the global South to call the shots
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145012/original/image-20161108-29133-16u1w1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Remarkable things happen when academics from the global South work together.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Collaboration is, without a doubt, a <a href="http://newforums.com/the-4-benefits-of-higher-education-scholarly-collaboration">positive and important</a> part of academic life. Scholars benefit enormously when they’re able to develop teamwork skills for conducting research jointly or in partnerships. </p>
<p>Scholarly alliances can lighten the heavy burden of publishing in high-class international journals. It makes investigative ground work and funding procedures far less intense. It enables more scholars to share in successes. It is also crucial to identifying and grasping seemingly intractable social problems. All of this can benefit entire regions and even nations. </p>
<p>But there are also pitfalls and problems. Scholars from the global north still tend <a href="https://theconversation.com/global-academic-collaboration-a-new-form-of-colonisation-61382">to dominate</a> such “partnerships”. With more capital in hand, they often call the shots. Over the past decade or so, there <a href="http://codesria.org/spip.php?article204&lang=en">have been</a> <a href="http://www.apisa.org/programs/39.html">some attempts</a> to change these power dynamics. </p>
<p>The South-South Educational Scholarly Collaboration and Knowledge Interchange Initiative – or S-S Initiative – fits into this mould.</p>
<p>I am among those who initiated this endeavour. Over the past 18 months or so, its work has yielded some valuable lessons, insights and results. We’re a small group of academics with a shared focus on rural education. We all come from areas in the global South: Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. Together, we’ve set up good, effective working engagements.</p>
<h2>A history of oppression</h2>
<p>In 2014 I started developing a national data base of rural education researchers. My goal was to boost general awareness of, and possibly create linkages between, local scholars dedicated to producing new and improved knowledge of a globally neglected yet crucial area of public schooling. </p>
<p>This culminated in the S-S Initiative. Current participants and collaborators are from Cuba, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Argentina, Mozambique, Rwanda, and South Africa. Scholars from Colombia, Mexico, Kenya, Malawi and the Ivory Coast have also expressed interest in getting involved. It’s clear, then, that participants have something in common beyond their interest in rural education: they all come from countries that have historically been the victims of acute colonial oppression, marginalisation and underdevelopment. </p>
<p>This history continues to negatively impact on the provision of good, quality education, particularly in the realm of rural schooling.</p>
<p>There are many potential approaches to the global problem of rural education. There currently exists a range of secluded, often insulated remedial measures and strategies concerning this sector. These must be shared to develop and increase knowledge that ultimately is mutually beneficial. It is important to create suitable spaces where such prospects can be presented, engaged, and eventually applied where feasible.</p>
<h2>Broad goals</h2>
<p>The initiative has several key aims. With appropriate interest and support, these will be expanded and developed over time.</p>
<p>First, we’re reaching out to rural education scholars from the global South to join the membership data base. This provides opportunities for the exchange of ideas and experiences, as well as the possibility of launching partnerships in future.</p>
<p>It also sets the groundwork for conference presentations as well as the constitution of review boards. The selection of postgraduate supervisors and external examiners are further opportunities under consideration. In this way, experts can come together and apply their insights and work in a collective manner. Such a course, we hope, will offer suitable prospects to initiate and advance meaningful change in the broader S-S educational field. </p>
<p>We have launched a call for book chapters on the topic of rural education. It is hoped this will eventually lead to the formal establishment of a South-South Educational Journal, with a duly-appointed international review board. There is a dearth of academic journals collectively or especially devoted to learning and teaching practices in the global South as a whole. </p>
<p>It is not a question of expertise: <a href="https://www.docdroid.net/3hytcQo/mini-symposium-19-july-2016-final-program.pdf.html#page=4">scholars in this initiative</a> have deep knowledge and experience of academic publishing. While some occupy leading positions on editorial boards, others have played key roles in actually establishing and administering academic and scientific journals. </p>
<p>We also hope to merge DVD documentary production with educational field research. This has the potential to reach a wider audience, thereby bringing parents and communities more decisively into the research fold. Schools and children thrive more when parents are more engaged in education.</p>
<p>Together with a dedicated, supportive team, I have already produced <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLgThSnnQQw&t=24slink">one DVD</a> of this nature. A second is close to completion. And, with a colleague in the S-S Initiative, plans are underway for a documentary about rural schooling in the Republic of Cuba. </p>
<h2>Small, steady steps</h2>
<p>Funding will always be an issue for academics, particularly those from less developed territories. Fortunately, the S-S Initiative was enriched and boosted with funding I received from South Africa’s <a href="http://www.nrf.ac.za/">National Research Foundation</a>. This allowed us to organise <a href="https://www.docdroid.net/ThtPzqO/cput-news-mini-symposium-report.pdf.html">a symposium</a> hosted at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s Education Faculty.</p>
<p>This gathering brought together a range of educational research scholars from the global South. Established, emerging and postgraduate scholars presented their work with special attention devoted to rural education. It was, as such spaces can be, fertile ground for the exchange of ideas and knowledge. It also allowed us to discuss possible future collaborations.</p>
<p>At their best, these kinds of initiatives don’t just benefit individual academics. Our hope is that by drawing together experts from the neglected global South, rurally-based school children’s educational development can take centre stage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66607/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The NRF funding grant awarded this author is hereby appreciatively acknowledged. </span></em></p>
It’s important to create spaces where the global South’s problems can be presented, debated and solutions developed - including some that can be applied in similar economies.
Clive Kronenberg, NRF Accredited & Senior Researcher; Lead Coordinator of the South-South Educational Collaboration & Knowlede Interchange Initiative, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/65655
2016-10-12T16:32:16Z
2016-10-12T16:32:16Z
Diaspora academics and those in Africa can do great things together
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141395/original/image-20161012-8385-172nczx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Collaboration is key.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What happens when you pair an African academic living in the diaspora with one who is teaching and conducting research on the continent? </p>
<p>That’s the thinking behind the <a href="http://www.codesria.org/spip.php?article2249">African Academic Diaspora Support to African Universities</a> programme, which I have been involved in since November 15 last year (2015). The programme is organised by the <a href="http://www.codesria.org/">Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa</a> (CODESRIA) and African scholars in the diaspora with their counterparts at African universities. It hopes to invigorate the social sciences, which include subjects like Geography, Population Studies and Sociology, and to groom Africa’s future social scientists.</p>
<p>I am a Ghanaian living in the US, and an Associate Professor of Geography at Delaware State University. I’m part of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/harnessing-the-potential-of-africas-global-academic-diaspora-41644">large African academic diaspora</a>. We have much to offer our colleagues on the continent. Our institutions are doing cutting edge research and teaching, and we’re able to offer great support to scholars at Africa’s less well resourced universities. Working with us also gives postgraduates on the continent a broader world view.</p>
<p>But the benefits don’t just flow one way. Diaspora scholars can learn an enormous amount about research, theories and practise from those still in Africa.</p>
<h2>A partnership</h2>
<p>My partner on the programme was <a href="http://www.ug.edu.gh/aehrs/staff/drjohn-kwame-boateng">Dr John Boateng</a> of the University of Ghana’s Department of Adult Education and Human Resource Studies.</p>
<p>Our project investigated the role of technology in student-instructor interaction and its impact on learning outcomes. We were particularly interested in how universities can adopt new technology for teaching and learning. It was important to understand how any technology we chose could be adapted to the Ghanaian context. </p>
<p>We had several tasks. Firstly, we needed to introduce students to new technologies for teaching and learning. We had to get the postgraduate students he was supervising involved in research about these technologies. And we had to disseminate our findings through publication. </p>
<p>I travelled to Accra to launch the project, but since then Dr Boateng and I have worked electronically using WhatsApp, Skype, emails and Google Hangouts. There have been times when Ghana’s <a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/ghana-government-criticised-power-cuts/">erratic power supply</a> and internet network failures have got in the way, but these technologies have generally proved invaluable.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141077/original/image-20161010-3897-1sytp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141077/original/image-20161010-3897-1sytp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141077/original/image-20161010-3897-1sytp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141077/original/image-20161010-3897-1sytp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141077/original/image-20161010-3897-1sytp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141077/original/image-20161010-3897-1sytp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141077/original/image-20161010-3897-1sytp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141077/original/image-20161010-3897-1sytp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dr John Boateng, left, and Dr Raymond Asare Tutu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Giving students great opportunities</h2>
<p>Students are central to the CODESRIA programme. The skills and knowledge I’ve acquired working in the US allowed me to help Dr Boateng set up assessment exercises for one of his courses that went beyond traditional exams and tests. He had noticed that students’ strengths and inadequacies cropped up during courses and wanted to learn how to intervene early – before the exam stage. I helped him to design interventions.</p>
<p>It was wonderful to work directly throughout the programme with postgraduate students. </p>
<p>These students were able to get involved in practically implementing a pilot research project. They learned about the different research instruments we used, how to understand the database we created and how to code data. They didn’t just help to collect data, as is often the case for student researchers. The students have also learned the difference between focus group discussion and in-depth interview skills, as well as the art of transcription.</p>
<p>The students helped with the meat of the project: Dr Boateng and I taught them how to identify gaps in the existing literature around our project’s central issues. For example, I told them to review previous work on technology-mediated student-faculty interactions. That included any work, qualitative and quantitative, about teaching and technology; technology and learning; social media and learning; teaching methods, technology and learning. </p>
<p>As they reviewed, they had to pay particular attention to the broad theoretical debates on these topics. They were looking out for variables on online course management systems and learning, online management system and teaching, types of social media platforms used for teaching, students’ perceptions and use of teaching and learning technologies, and so on. </p>
<p>Then they were asked to write up their review of this work with the intention of publishing it in a scholarly journal. This is still a work in progress; the students have worked hard but need more guidance to get their writing journal-ready.</p>
<p>The students’ involvement at every step inculcates in them a sense of ownership. They have shown a high sense of responsibility and a desire to learn. They don’t offer excuses when they make mistakes. Instead, they enthusiastically make corrections and forge ahead.</p>
<p>I find this attitude tremendously exciting. I know I am not wasting my time and energy, and that Africa’s potential future social scientists are gaining incredible experience. </p>
<h2>Collaboration continues</h2>
<p>Our collaboration has gone beyond the boundaries of the original proposal we submitted to CODESRIA. Dr Boateng and I have worked well together. We’ve encouraged each other’s interests and curiosity and developed new interests. I’m delighted to report that we’ve published one <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-016-9723-1">journal article</a> based on this collaboration. More will follow.</p>
<p>This kind of initiative, which brings diaspora scholars and their counterparts on the African continent together, is very worthwhile. Successful interventions will undoubtedly lead to an increase in research findings and publications by scholars living on the continent. </p>
<p>More importantly, postgraduate students who get involved will come to understand the essence of scholarship. They’ll be able to see that becoming a scholar of repute is not beyond their reach, no matter where they live and work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65655/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raymond Asare Tutu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
African academics living in the diaspora have access to resources that can really help their peers working on the continent.
Raymond Asare Tutu, Associate Professor of Geography, Delaware State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/66055
2016-10-09T17:11:10Z
2016-10-09T17:11:10Z
Innovation and research suffer when visa rules keep scientists at home
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139717/original/image-20160929-27047-3hwvyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some changes to visa rules could make travel easier for scientists.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is becoming increasingly difficult for people – particularly those from the developing world and the global south – to move around the globe. The UK voted “yes” to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/eu-referendum">Brexit</a>. Donald Trump wants to <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37243269">build a wall</a> on the US border with Mexico. <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hungary-massive-new-border-fence-to-keep-out-refugees-prime-minister-orban-turkey-eu-hold-them-back-a7212696.html">Hungary</a> is also mulling a wall to keep “outsiders” from crossing its borders.</p>
<p>The attitude of citizens in higher income countries towards immigrants is <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/12/in-views-of-diversity-many-europeans-are-less-positive-than-americans/">hardening</a>. Visas are harder to come by, no matter the purpose of your travel. And, as research we conducted in late 2015 <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/S36ZJW6">reveals</a>, scientists from the developing world are among those caught in the cross hairs.</p>
<h2>Barriers to travel</h2>
<p>As part of the research we conducted an online survey to examine the impact of visa requirements on scientific collaboration. Some of the respondents were postgraduate students; others were active researchers and academics in fields like biology, earth sciences, applied mathematics and engineering. In total, 232 people representing 46 citizenships – from Canada, Chile, France, Malaysia, New Zealand and Kenya, to name a few – took part in the research.</p>
<p>We found that researchers from countries <a href="http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/01/pdf/text.pdf">defined</a> as developing by the International Monetary Fund perceive current visa rules as a major impediment to professional travel. Their peers from developed countries did not experience visa rules as a significant barrier.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139403/original/image-20160927-14618-rl5jml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139403/original/image-20160927-14618-rl5jml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139403/original/image-20160927-14618-rl5jml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139403/original/image-20160927-14618-rl5jml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139403/original/image-20160927-14618-rl5jml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139403/original/image-20160927-14618-rl5jml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139403/original/image-20160927-14618-rl5jml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139403/original/image-20160927-14618-rl5jml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Immigration legislation restricts movement by scientists from developing countries much more than those from advanced economies.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Notably, 34% of the developing countries’ scientists reported losing out on professional opportunities because of visa delays and denials. This was in spite of investing on average more than 10 hours on each visa application to ensure they had provided all the required information.</p>
<p>Disturbingly, a number of student respondents who originally came from developing countries said they were reluctant to attend international conferences. The stated reasons was because they were not guaranteed readmission to the developed countries in which they were studying. These students said they were at the mercy of immigration officers with each border entry.</p>
<p>The results showed that it is becoming more commonplace for scientists from developing countries to forfeit short exchange visits and international conferences. This was echoed in an email we received from Professor Coleen Moloney of the University of Cape Town’s Department of Biological Sciences.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I now limit international travel because the whole visa application process is too time-consuming, expensive and stressful. And my travel is usually at the request of and funded by organisations in the country I am travelling to…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Moloney and her international colleagues are losing out on valuable chances to strengthen their networks and further develop collaborative research.</p>
<h2>Sharing ideas, solving problems</h2>
<p>It is not only scientists from the developing world who benefit from being able to travel easily.</p>
<p>Humanity’s ability to innovate and solve challenging problems is strengthened in a global society. When scientists from around the world are able to work together, problems can be solved. This is evident in major international science projects like <a href="https://home.cern/">CERN</a>, the Square Kilometre Array (<a href="https://www.skatelescope.org/">SKA</a>) and the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/">International Space Station</a>. These all rely on global collaboration for success.</p>
<p>Travel and collaboration allow developing countries to strengthen their scientific capacity. Developed countries, in turn, receive an injection of ideas. Discriminatory immigration policies that impede the movements of those trying to invest in their home countries weaken innovation and progress.</p>
<p>How can this problem be proactively tackled?</p>
<h2>Possible solutions</h2>
<p>Few would argue against tight border control policies to keep citizens safe. But there are many ways in which streamlined immigration policy could better facilitate travel by bona fide scientists. In a recent <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/353/6305/1216.1">letter</a> published in the journal Science, we outlined just two options. </p>
<p>First, developed countries could follow the example of the US visitor visa, which is valid for 10 years. The current UK and Schengen visas, meanwhile, seldom extend beyond six months. This would be a way for politicians to acknowledge that academic collaborations frequently extend beyond regular visa restrictions.</p>
<p>Second, developed nations could also adopt existing programmes that allow third-country access for some countries’ visa holders. Such programmes would expand on systems used by countries such as <a href="http://www.embassyofpanama.org/inmigration-and-visas">Panama</a>, along with European territories in the Caribbean, that accept USA, UK, Canadian, Australian and Schengen visas for entry - without requiring a separate visa application process. </p>
<p>This would still take public safety into account: such a system would favour holders of visas from countries with stringent vetting processes.</p>
<h2>Fair treatment benefits everyone</h2>
<p>We are not proposing that scientists receive special treatment, or that stringent vetting standards be diluted. </p>
<p>Instead, our suggestions will afford scientists from developing countries who have already been vetted easier movement across international boundaries – similar to the freedoms that citizens from developed countries already experience. This will greatly benefit the social and economic progress of society at large.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66055/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Scientists from the developing world perceive current visa rules as a major impediment to professional travel. They miss out on opportunities to collaborate globally.
John W Wilson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Conservation Biology, University of Pretoria
Duan Biggs, Senior Research Fellow Social-Ecological Systems & Resilience, Griffith University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/62902
2016-07-25T19:44:42Z
2016-07-25T19:44:42Z
Academics do want to engage with business, but need more support
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131604/original/image-20160722-26828-107f0vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nine out of ten surveyed researchers said they engage with end-users to translate their work into practice.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Universities today are under more pressure than ever to collaborate with industry. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/launch-of-the-national-innovation-and-science-agenda1">In the words of</a> Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Increasing collaboration between businesses, universities and the research sector is absolutely critical for our businesses to remain competitive.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Australia has a poor report card when it comes to university-business collaboration. It <a href="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/9213051ec020.pdf?expires=1468917203&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=B10BF089A5567C86C443A141D11677B5">ranks last among the OECD countries</a> when comparing the proportion of businesses working with universities. </p>
<p>But this is not all. Australia ranks only 72nd in the world on the <a href="https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/">Innovation Efficiency Ratio</a>, a measure comparing innovation inputs to outputs. And we have one of the lowest number of scientific <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264193321-6-en">publications co-authored by industry</a> in the OECD. </p>
<p>There is a clear impetus for change. A change towards more academic collaboration with industry.</p>
<h2>Why are there such low levels of collaboration?</h2>
<p>A popular belief is that researchers are focused on publishing their work in academic journals, and not interested in collaboration with industry. </p>
<p>At a press conference on science and innovation,<a href="http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/press-conference-at-miraikan-national-museum-of-emerging-science-and-innova"> Turnbull said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… the primary motivator has been to publish and make sure your publications are cited in lots of other publications, hence the term “publish or perish”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Publications are, and will continue to be, critical for the advancement of knowledge and for the reputation of academics and universities alike. But does that mean academics aren’t interested in working with business?</p>
<p>Recently the South Australian Science Council undertook a benchmarking survey to test this assumption. </p>
<p>The academic engagement with end users survey was designed to capture the perceptions and attitudes of academics when it comes to engaging with business, government or non-profit organisations. </p>
<p>The survey (which has not been published publicly due to confidentiality reasons) sampled 20% of the total academic employees across three universities in South Australia. The sample size of 852 academics is large enough to tell us something about the Australian, not just South Australian, academic.</p>
<p>The findings found that the most academics (nine out of ten) were motivated to engage with business to help translate their research into practice. And 86% were motivated to engage in order to have an impact on society. </p>
<h2>Academics not motivated by money</h2>
<p>It is not money that makes a difference. Only 25% indicated that the opportunity to increase their personal income motivated them to engage.</p>
<p>We often think that there are just too many barriers to engagement. These barriers range from difficulty in agreeing on Intellectual Property (IP), to mismatches in culture, to a lack of personal contacts with industry, and so on. </p>
<p>But are these barriers really inhibiting engagement? </p>
<p>Few academics in the survey agreed. Only 15% of respondents agreed that their research was too far removed from the end users. 16% agreed that end user engagement doesn’t help achieve their career goals. </p>
<p>Just under one third of respondents agreed that engaging with end users is difficult, that they don’t have relevant skills, or personal contacts or that it would detract them from undertaking other research.</p>
<h2>Building stronger relationship between academics and industry</h2>
<p>A simple focus on <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/assessing-engagement-and-impact-university-research">financial incentives</a> alone won’t make a difference. </p>
<p>In the eyes of the academics responding to the survey, they need: Time, support and an environment encouraging of engagement.</p>
<p><strong>Time</strong> to dedicate to the networking and relationship building that will lead to successful collaboration. It is relationships, not just single transactions, that breed success. These relationships are integral to research and teaching; integral to the university’s role in society. Yet building relationships takes time. </p>
<p><strong>Support mechanisms</strong> are significant enablers. While important for all, they are crucial for newcomers. 80% of the respondents who had not previously engaged with business desire it. </p>
<p>The support comprises staff dedicated to assist in finding end-users, help define applications, facilitate networking and conduct project management. By supporting academics behind the scenes, they enable them to focus on what they are good at - working with their business partners on achieving the desired outcomes.</p>
<p><strong>An environment</strong> perceived as encouraging engagement stimulates further engagement. The survey shows that only 29% of respondents who have not worked with business view their local research group as encouraging engagement, compared to 77% of those who have engaged extensively. An encouraging team atmosphere, support from peers and support networks can all help facilitate an engagement friendly culture.</p>
<p>The research suggests that we need to shift our thinking on this topic, away from extrinsic motivators such as money, and towards a focus on what intrinsically motivates academics to engage, such as impact. </p>
<p>The conversation must move away from “overcoming barriers”, which in the eyes of most academics don’t actually exist. We are wasting time dreaming up solutions to problems that don’t exist.</p>
<h2>‘It takes three to tango’</h2>
<p>Not every academic will engage closely with industry, nor do we want every academic to engage. We need to establish the ecosystem in which engagement is easy and rewarding. </p>
<p>As former Chief Scientist Ian Chubb <a href="http://www.researchinnovation.com.au/research-innovation-%E2%80%93-it-takes-three-to-tango-says-former-chief-scientist-mc">recently put it</a>: “It takes three to tango”. </p>
<p>Not all academics will want to tango with business; tango is close, intense and full of twists and turns. Yet many want to line dance, foxtrot, or quickstep. They want to engage in different ways. </p>
<p>The Australian government needs to consider the policy framework that enables academics to engage in a way that is best for them and their partners through the provision of time, support, encouragement and recognition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62902/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Drew Evans receives funding from Excellerate Australia. This cooperative research center funds collaborative research between university researchers and industry partners to lead to commercial products. Drew Evans is a member of the South Australian Science Council, who undertook the survey discussed in this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carolin Plewa has previously received funding from the DAAD/Go8 to examine the evolution of university-industry relationships. She is a member of the South Australian Science Council, who undertook the survey discussed in this article.</span></em></p>
Financial incentives alone won’t increase research collaboration between universities and business. Academics say they need time, support and an environment encouraging of engagement.
Drew Evans, Associate Professor of Energy & Advanced Manufacturing, University of South Australia
Carolin Plewa, Associate Professor in Marketing, University of Adelaide
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/61382
2016-07-08T04:43:26Z
2016-07-08T04:43:26Z
Global academic collaboration: a new form of colonisation?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128962/original/image-20160701-18306-1fjureg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Of course Africa's universities need collaboration -- but not if it's merely an imposition of ideas from elsewhere.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Higher education in Africa is as old as <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:HIGH.0000009822.49980.30#/page-1">the pyramids in Egypt</a>. But the continent’s ancient institutions have long disappeared. The type of higher education that’s delivered in Africa today, from curriculum to degree structure and the languages of instruction, is rooted in colonialism. This has led many to question whether African universities are still suffering from a sort of colonisation – <a href="http://dio.sagepub.com/content/46/184/101.extract">of the mind</a>. </p>
<p>The story of renowned climate change researcher Cheikh Mbow is an example. Mbow was born in Senegal in 1969 and studied there. Looking back at his experiences during his first years of university, Mbow observes: “I knew all about the geography and biology of France but nothing about that of Senegal.” </p>
<p>Mbow also happens to be my friend, and together with one of his colleagues we wrote a <a href="http://bit.ly/29mAIIr">book chapter</a> about the production of scientific knowledge in Africa today. The chapter is based on Mbow’s life story – which I’ll return to shortly. </p>
<p>In recent years a new consciousness has emerged about higher education’s historical roots. People are calling strongly for a <a href="https://theconversation.com/decolonising-universities-isnt-an-easy-process-but-it-has-to-happen-59604">decolonised academy</a>. This feeds into a broader debate about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/decolonising-the-curriculum-its-time-for-a-strategy-60598">role of modern universities</a>. </p>
<p>There’s little doubt that Africa’s universities need to be locally relevant – focusing their teaching and research on local needs. Unavoidably, though, they’re simultaneously expected to internationalise and participate in the heated global higher education competition. Standardisation is the name of the game here. Universities compete to feature on global ranking lists, mimicking each other. </p>
<p>Internationalisation also sees African researchers like Mbow travelling North in search of research environments with better resources. These international collaborations can be hugely beneficial. But all too often it’s organisations, universities and researchers in the global North that call the shots.</p>
<p>So how can the continent’s universities manage the tricky balance between local relevance and internationalisation? How can they participate in international collaboration without being “recolonised” by subjecting themselves to the standards of curriculum and quality derived in the North? How can they avoid collaborative programmes with the North that become mere tick-box exercises that only benefit the Northern researchers and organisations?</p>
<h2>International collaboration grows</h2>
<p>Over the past 20 years, international interest in African higher education has intensified. Aid agencies in the North have developed policies that are designed to strengthen Africa’s research capacity. Scandinavian countries were among the first to do so: Denmark has the <a href="http://bsuud.org/">Building Stronger Universities</a> programme. <a href="https://oda.hio.no/jspui/handle/10642/1868">Norway</a> and <a href="http://www.sida.se/English/partners/our-partners/research-cooperation/about-sida-research-cooperation/">Sweden</a> have similar collaborative programmes. </p>
<p>Such initiatives are important. Research funding is very limited at African universities. National higher education budgets are quite low, especially compared with universities in the North. In their bid to educate rapidly growing populations, African universities tend to emphasise teaching rather than research. So these institutions rely heavily on external funding for research and depend on support from development agencies via so-called capacity building projects. These projects engage researchers from the North and South in joint activities within teaching and research, ideally to create partnerships based on mutual respect. </p>
<p>Many researchers from universities in the North and South are involved in these collaborative projects, usually as practitioners. Only rarely do we turn these collaborative projects into a research field, turning the microscope on ourselves and our own practice. After participating in a capacity building project in Africa, some colleagues and I became interested in understanding <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Higher-Education-and-Capacity-Building-in-Africa-The-geography-and-power/Adriansen-Madsen-Jensen/p/book/9781138838154">the geography and power of scientific knowledge</a>. </p>
<p>We wanted to know how this power and geography is negotiated through capacity building projects. We also sought to understand whether such projects functioned as <a href="http://pure.au.dk/portal/files/66704201/Paper_for_SRHE_2013.pdf">quality assurance or a type of neo-imperialism</a>.</p>
<p>Simply put, our research explored whether capacity building and the tendency towards increased international collaboration in higher education is helping or hindering African universities. The answer? Both.</p>
<h2>‘Monocultures of the mind’</h2>
<p>The problem with such projects is that they might create what Indian activist Vandana Shiva calls “<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2013/04/24/tackling-monoculture-mind">monocultures of the mind</a>”. Shiva argues that these make diversity disappear from perception and consequently from the world. People all end up thinking in the same ways. </p>
<p>International collaboration can cause African universities to become more dependent on the North. Their dependence is on funding; through publication in journals from the North; and through technology that only exists in the North. It also manifests in thinking mainly using concepts and solutions developed in the North.</p>
<p>Another problem is that this international collaboration may draw African universities into the <a href="https://theconversation.com/competition-as-a-fetish-why-universities-need-to-escape-the-trap-58084">competition fetish</a> that dominates higher education today. This may help them to become globally competitive. But they risk losing their local relevance in the process.</p>
<p>Capacity building projects risk creating Shiva’s monocultures of the mind. But they can also have the opposite effect: they can empower African researchers and help them to become more independent. </p>
<h2>Empowerment through capacity building</h2>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lx21U6mgRdY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Renowned climate scientist Cheikh Mbow in action.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For Cheikh Mbow, the North represented both an imposed curriculum through colonial heritage and the chance to acquire the skills needed to become an
emancipated academic capable of creating new knowledge.</p>
<p>His PhD project explored natural resource management in Senegal “but using methods designed in the global North, in particular from France”. During his project he travelled from Senegal to Denmark and was exposed to another way of behaving. At his home institution, the Université de Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, questioning the knowledge and methods of older professors was perceived as misbehaviour. In Denmark he experienced a different system. There he was asked to question what was taken for granted even if it meant questioning older professors. </p>
<p>Paradoxically, the Danish system enabled Mbow to become an independent researcher. He became aware of how knowledge and methods inherited from the North were used in an African context without being questioned.</p>
<p>Mbow <a href="http://bit.ly/29mAIIr">explains</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>After several years of research, I began challenging some of
the received knowledge and managed to specify what is particular to Africa.
After being able to contextualise knowledge, I was able to create knowledge
that concerned and responded to societal needs and local realities in Africa.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is precisely what the African academy – and its societies more broadly – require.</p>
<h2>Collaboration to decolonise</h2>
<p>I would argue that collaborative projects such as capacity building programmes can be a means to assist African universities in producing contextualised knowledge. These projects can even lead to some sort of decolonisation of the academy if they are based on long-term partnerships, a close understanding of historical, political and geographical context, and not least a common exploration of knowledge diversity.</p>
<p><em>This article is based on a blog that originally appeared <a href="https://norrag.wordpress.com/#_ftnref1">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61382/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hanne Kirstine Adriansen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Africa’s universities must avoid collaborative programmes with the North that become mere tick-box exercises that only benefit Northern researchers and organisations.
Hanne Kirstine Adriansen, Associate Professor, School of Education, Aarhus University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/59539
2016-05-18T17:29:16Z
2016-05-18T17:29:16Z
Why it’s time African researchers stopped working in silos
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122986/original/image-20160518-13471-4nhlla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">So much more can be achieved if African researchers work together.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/DANIEL IRUNGU</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Seven years ago Bassirou Bonfoh, the director of the <a href="http://www.csrs.ch/">Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifique</a> in Cote d’Ivoire, joined forces with 10 other African institutions. Their plan was to collaborate on research into infections that pass between animals and humans. Many of these infections, such as <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/transmission/">Ebola</a>, <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/zika/transmission/">Zika</a> and <a href="http://www.animalresearch.info/en/medical-advances/diseases-research/aids-hiv/">HIV</a>, are sadly world famous.</p>
<p>The collaboration enabled Bonfoh to access data from as far afield as Tanzania and extend his remit to <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs207/en/">rift valley fever</a>, an infection that has had several outbreaks since it was first detected in 1931.</p>
<p>Crucially, throughout this collaboration, Bonfoh has avoided duplicating research. This is rare in Africa. Even though most African countries face similar health and developmental challenges, researchers work in silos. This wastes limited human resources and infrastructure. It also means that researchers are competing for a small pool of grants and decreasing their chances of success. A 2010 report by Thomson Reuters <a href="http://sciencewatch.com/global-research-reports">found</a> that of the continent’s six stronger research nations – Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia — not one had an African country among its top five collaborating countries.</p>
<p>Why is collaboration so crucial? Bonfoh’s <a href="http://www.afriqueone.net/anglais/presentation/1/Presentation/">experience</a> shows that it ensures more scientists are trained and knowledge is generated that can be fed into policymaking processes. Bonfoh’s group has trained 12 postdoctoral fellows and 45 Masters and PhD students from 2010 to date. The collaboration he was part of involved 11 African research centres and universities conducting <a href="http://www.who.int/topics/zoonoses/en/">zoonosis</a> research and training postgraduate students in the field.</p>
<p>Sadly, this story is rare. There are a number of stumbling blocks to intra African collaboration that must be urgently addressed.</p>
<h2>Barriers to sharing</h2>
<p>Geographical and political barriers prevent Africans from working together. For instance, when Bonfoh organised a meeting in 2013 he had to negotiate with his government to arrange for visas on arrival for his peers from countries without Ivorian embassies. This problem is replicated all over the continent.</p>
<p>Allowing the free movement of researchers is necessary for networking, which is the foundation of collaboration. Unlike people, diseases and developmental challenges don’t know geographical barriers and their spread has come at a tremendous cost for the continent.</p>
<p>The Ebola outbreak of 2014 and 2015 provides a good example. It caused an <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/health/brief/world-bank-group-ebola-fact-sheet">estimated loss of $2.2bn</a> to the already hard hit economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The outbreak wasn’t new to Africa: there had previously been similar ones in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But the absence of intra Africa collaboration meant lessons could not easily be shared so the human and economic loss could not be avoided.</p>
<p>This is what we need to change.</p>
<p>Pooling human resources and providing people with career opportunities is important. PhD supervisors in Africa are <a href="http://www.iau-aiu.net/sites/all/files/IAUFinal%20Report_Doctoral%20Programmes.pdf">a scarce commodity</a>, and institutions must pull together to train future scientists. Otherwise, Africa will continue <a href="https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=U-a_CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT122&lpg=PT122&dq=africa+loses+20,000+professionals+a+year&source=bl&ots=2H8kY_8Xcr&sig=9V5jBTkB5jPpeWRndEjfp_n7gDI&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=africa%20loses%2020%2C000%20professionals%20a%20year&f=false">losing</a> thousands of professionals every year to developed countries. Africans scientists who leave are often frustrated by the lack of infrastructure and mentors.</p>
<p>This is why programmes funding research in Africa must be deliberate about promoting collaboration across the continent. One example of a programme that is getting this right is the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science Africa Initiative <a href="http://www.aasciences.ac.ke/academy/academy-pages/developing-excellence-in-leadership-training-and-science-deltas-africa-initiative">(DELTAS)</a>. It is supporting large networks and consortiums – 11 programmes spanning 21 countries. There are 40 lead and partner institutions all collaborating to address emerging, infectious diseases as well as non-communicable diseases.</p>
<p>Another example is the <a href="http://h3africa.org/">Heredity and Health in Africa Consortium</a>, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the US National Institutes of Health. This involves 24 collaborative projects conducting genomics research at institutions across the continent. There’s also the <a href="http://aasciences.ac.ke/programmes/circle/climate-impact-research-capacity-and-leadership-enhancement-circle/">Climate Impact Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement</a> programme. This is being implemented by the African Academy of Sciences and the Association of Commonwealth Universities. It offers fellowships to post-Master’s and postdoctoral researchers to spend a year in institutions outside their own studying the impact of climate change on the continent with the aim of facilitating intra-African collaboration. </p>
<p>It’s also important to overcome language barriers that have left researchers oblivious of each other’s work. Researchers in Francophone Africa do not always read African research published in English especially if it is not translated into French. Unfortunately this means researchers working in the same field of research don’t know each other. Intra-regional collaboration provides a platform for scientists from Anglo and Francophone Africa to share their work.</p>
<h2>Power of the collective</h2>
<p>Lastly, collaboration will help to mobilise political support for research. Projects that have wide continental relevance are more likely to be adopted at African Union and the <a href="http://www.nepad.org/">NEPAD</a> agency level than those that are focused on only one country.</p>
<p>And there is power in speaking collectively. Researchers need the support of the African Union to lobby for more government funding and improve Africa’s spend on research and development. This is currently <a href="http://en.unesco.org/node/252168">just 1.3%</a> of the total global spend. Increased investment should provide the surveillance systems and other resources to enable Africa to address its problems before they spiral out of control and result in huge financial losses or spread globally.</p>
<p>Bonfoh’s programme is already demonstrating the impact of collaboration. His network shows that the solutions to the most urgent health problems can come from within the continent, not outside it.</p>
<h2>Walking together</h2>
<p>Africa must take the initiative to lead its science and developmental agenda even as it receives global support. Collaboration will amalgamate different voices and ideas to promote and conduct research relevant to the continent’s needs. As the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3860291/">African saying</a> goes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you want to go fast walk alone, and if you want to go far walk together.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>This article is based on a blog post that originally <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2016/05/09/intra-african-collaboration-is-key-to-global-health-and-local-well-being/?platform=hootsuite">appeared</a> on the Financial Times’ website.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Kariuki does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
There are a number of stumbling blocks to intra African collaboration. These must be addressed to ensure that research is not duplicated and that findings are shared.
Thomas Kariuki, Director of the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa, African Academy of Sciences
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/55369
2016-04-25T10:03:32Z
2016-04-25T10:03:32Z
It bears repeating: how scientists are addressing the ‘reproducibility problem’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119903/original/image-20160422-17401-1yrvxy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In scientific research, repetition is good.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/w4nd3rl0st/5855396656/">w4nd3rl0st/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recently a friend of mine on Facebook posted a link whose headline quoted a scientist saying “Most cancer research is largely a fraud.” The quote is both out of context and many decades old. But its appearance still makes a strong point: the general public has a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/01/30/even-in-2015-the-public-doesnt-trust-scientists/">growing distrust</a> of science and research. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119891/original/image-20160422-17417-18j842g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119891/original/image-20160422-17417-18j842g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119891/original/image-20160422-17417-18j842g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119891/original/image-20160422-17417-18j842g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119891/original/image-20160422-17417-18j842g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119891/original/image-20160422-17417-18j842g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1420&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119891/original/image-20160422-17417-18j842g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119891/original/image-20160422-17417-18j842g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1420&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seeking reproducibility: a difference between scientists and normal people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://xkcd.com/242/">Randall Munroe/XKCD</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recent reports in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/08/27/trouble-in-science-massive-effort-to-reproduce-100-experimental-results-succeeds-only-36-times/">Washington Post</a> and the <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21588069-scientific-research-has-changed-world-now-it-needs-change-itself-how-science-goes-wrong">Economist,</a> among others, raise the concern that <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-found-only-one-third-of-published-psychology-research-is-reliable-now-what-46596">relatively few</a> scientists’ experimental findings <a href="https://theconversation.com/real-crisis-in-psychology-isnt-that-studies-dont-replicate-but-that-we-usually-dont-even-try-47249">can be replicated</a>. This is worrying: replicating an experiment is a main foundation of the scientific method. </p>
<p>As scientists, we build on knowledge gained and published by others. We develop new experiments and questions based on the knowledge we gain from those published reports. If those papers are valid, our work is supported and knowledge advances.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if published research is not actually valid, if it can’t be replicated, it delivers only an incidental finding, not scientific knowledge. Any subsequent questions will either be wrong or flawed in important ways. Identifying which reports are invalid is critical to prevent wasting money and time pursuing an incorrect idea based on bad data. How can we know which findings to trust? </p>
<h2>Why would a repeat fail?</h2>
<p>Repeating a result is not always a simple task. Say you flip a coin three times and get heads each time. You may conclude that coins always land on heads. As an independent test, your friend flips a coin five more times and gets four tails and one heads. The friend concludes your results were incorrect, not reproducible and that coins usually land on tails. Repeating the research can both correct inaccuracies and deepen our understanding of the real truth: the coin lands on heads and tails equally.</p>
<p>This is much harder in studies that are more complex than coin-flipping. In a recent <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aad7243">commentary</a> in Science, lead author and Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert notes that the 2015 study that reported low reproducibility of psychology research <a href="http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/03/study-that-undercut-psych-research-got-it-wrong/">did not correctly replicate</a> the methods or approaches of the original studies. For example, a study of race and affirmative action performed at Stanford University was “replicated” at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, in another country with different racial diversity. When the study was later repeated at Stanford, the original published results were indeed replicated.</p>
<p>Gilbert’s analysis suggests that the reproducibility “problem” may be more complex. Perhaps some studies cannot be repeated due to problems with the initial study, while others aren’t replicable because the follow-up research did not follow the methods or use the same tools as the original study. Likely both contribute to the reproducibility problem.</p>
<h2>Focusing on the details</h2>
<p>The scientific community is addressing this challenge in several ways. For example, scholarly journals are requiring much more detailed explanations of how we did our experiments. More detail allows scholars to better evaluate and understand what parts of the experiment could <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/journals-unite-for-reproducibility-1.16259">influence the result</a>. </p>
<p>Also, when reviewing requests for government research grant money, the National Institutes of Health now <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/repetitive-flaws-1.19192">requires</a> scientists to detail both the tools they will use and the tests they used to confirm the tools are exactly what they should be.</p>
<p>One way scientists can get results that can’t be reproduced is if one or more of the tools used doesn’t work as the researchers assume or intend. Researchers have <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/announcement-time-to-tackle-cells-mistaken-identity-1.17316">found</a> that tools such as cell lines can become contaminated, mislabeled or mixed up. Antibodies used to identify one protein may actually identify the <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/reproducibility-crisis-blame-it-on-the-antibodies-1.17586">wrong protein</a> or more than one protein. Even variations in the type of food given to lab mice have shown to significantly <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/chow-down-1.19378">change experiment results</a>.</p>
<p>To combat this type of problem, researchers have begun sequencing DNA to ensure they are working with the cell lines they intend to be. Some lab supply companies are <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v527/n7579/full/527545a.html">testing their antibodies in-house</a> to confirm they work as expected. Other companies are using the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-sharing-economy-comes-to-scientific-research-55368">online lab-services marketplace</a> <a href="http://www.scienceexchange.com">Science Exchange</a> to find expert labs like mine to independently test their antibodies. (I am on Science Exchange’s Lab Advisory Board, but have no financial interest in the company.) The results of those tests can “validate” an antibody as good or bad for a particular experiment, letting future scientists know which antibodies are the best tools for their research.</p>
<h2>Finding time to reproduce important studies</h2>
<p>Those steps address future and ongoing research. But how do we know which already published experiments are reproducible and which are not? Most journals focus on publishing new and groundbreaking findings, rather than publishing a replication of a previous study. Further, research that finds a study’s results can’t be replicated – getting what are called “negative results” – can also be difficult for scientists and journals to publish. Collaboration and support from colleagues are key to academic success; publishing data that contradict a fellow researcher’s results risks alienating peers. </p>
<p>In 2012, the biopharmaceutical company Amgen <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/biotech-giant-publishes-failures-to-confirm-high-profile-science-1.19269">reported</a> that it had been unable to reproduce 47 of 53 “landmark” cancer papers. For confidentiality reasons, however, the company did not release which papers it could not replicate and thus did not provide details about how it repeated the experiments. As with the psychology studies, this leaves the possibility that Amgen got different results because the experiments were not performed the same way as the original study. It opens the door to doubt about which result – the first or the repeat test – was correct. </p>
<p><a href="http://validation.scienceexchange.com/">Several initiatives</a> are addressing this problem in multiple disciplines. Science Exchange; the <a href="https://cos.io/">Center for Open Science</a>, a group dedicated to “openness, integrity and reproducibility of scientific research”; and <a href="http://f1000research.com/">F1000Research</a>, a team focused on <a href="http://f1000research.com/channels/PRR">immediate and transparent publishing</a> have all introduced initiatives along this line. </p>
<p>Science Exchange and the Center for Open Science have launched a specific effort in this direction regarding cancer research. Their effort, the <a href="https://osf.io/e81xl/">Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology</a>, has received US$1.3 million from the <a href="http://www.arnoldfoundation.org/">Arnold Foundation</a> to repeat selected experiments from a number of high-profile cancer biology papers. The project will publish comprehensive details of how scientists attempted to reproduce each study, and will report results whether they confirm, contradict or change the findings of the study being repeated.</p>
<p>In addition, Science Exchange, the open-access journal <a href="https://www.plos.org/">PLoS</a>, the data management site <a href="https://figshare.com/">figshare</a> and the reference management site <a href="https://www.mendeley.com/">Mendeley</a> joined forces in 2012 to identify and document high-quality reproducible research. This effort, called the <a href="https://www.scienceexchange.com/applications/reproducibility">Reproducibility Initiative</a>, allows scientists to apply to have key parts of their projects repeated in independent expert labs identified by Science Exchange. </p>
<p>The results of the repeat tests can be published in the special PLoS <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/browse/reproducibility">reproducibility collection</a>. The data are made openly available through figshare and the impact the work has on future studies and publications can be tracked in the Mendeley reproducibility <a href="https://www.mendeley.com/groups/2473351/reproducibility-initiative/">collection</a>. Many journals have agreed to add an <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/08/reproducing_scientific_studies_a_good_housekeeping_seal_of_approval_.html">“Independently Validated” badge</a> to original articles that are successfully repeated, indicating their high quality.</p>
<h2>Doing it right again and again</h2>
<p>To prevent problems in the repetition of the experiments, the Reproducibility Initiative spends months reviewing the details of an experiment with the original author to ensure the project is repeated accurately. Once reviewed, Science Exchange splits the project into types of experiments and outsources each type to a lab with that expertise. By dividing and outsourcing the project, the testing labs do not know the original paper, results, or authors, eliminating chances for bias in testing. </p>
<p>Testing labs like mine create a detailed report of the experiments to be done. Every step, every reagent down to the catalog number and company, is carefully documented and published in an <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114614">independent report</a> in “PLoS One.” That way, whether the result of the repetition is positive or negative, the full details of the experiment are available for review. Upon completion of the repeat testing, the results are published in “PLoS One,” whether they validate or contradict the original findings. The results of the first full replication of a study are expected to be published later this year.</p>
<p>As scientists, we are working to dispel concerns about scientific research like those raised by my Facebook friend. With improved reporting and tools for future research, the science community can counter and reduce existing problems of reproducibility, which will help us build a strong and valid foundation for future scientific studies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55369/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Berry is a member of the Laboratory Advisory Board for Science Exchange. </span></em></p>
Scientists build on knowledge gained and published by others. How can we know which findings to trust?
Deborah Berry, Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Histopathology and Tissue Shared Resource, Georgetown University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/57972
2016-04-19T05:04:05Z
2016-04-19T05:04:05Z
How to improve research training in Australia – give industry placements to PhD students
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119039/original/image-20160418-23649-34jf2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One in five research graduates is dissatisfied with the supervision they received.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The skilled graduate must become the most important outcome of research training in Australia – as it is in many other parts of the world – urges a <a href="http://acola.org.au/PDF/SAF13/SAF13%20RTS%20report.pdf">new report</a> by the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA).</p>
<p>The findings from the ACOLA review of the Australian research training system suggest that universities need to better serve the needs of doctoral graduates. The report provides recommendations for how to help better connect research students and graduates with industry. </p>
<p>With fewer <a href="http://acola.org.au/PDF/SAF13/SAF13%20RTS%20report.pdf">than 50%</a> of Australian doctoral graduates being employed in the university sector, industry experience and training that better equip graduates for jobs beyond universities are essential.</p>
<p>The report calls for transferable skills to be central to the training of doctoral candidates. Such skills development must be flexible and candidate-directed, and build on the diverse backgrounds and experience of candidates.</p>
<h2>Improve industry-university research collaboration</h2>
<p>Industry placements are at the heart of this model. Industry is defined broadly as: businesses, governments, government business enterprises, non-government organisations, not-for-profit organisations and community organisations. This needs to include research students in the social sciences and humanities as well as those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.</p>
<p>Australia has been slow to adopt such initiatives. This failure is likely to have contributed to our lacklustre performance in research collaborations between higher education providers and industry. Our poor performance is <a href="http://acola.org.au/PDF/SAF13/SAF13%20RTS%20report.pdf">illustrated by several indicators</a>. </p>
<p>For example, Australia ranks last out of 30 OECD countries on the proportion of small and medium enterprises collaborating with higher education and public sector institutions on innovation. It is second-last on the same indicator for large businesses. </p>
<p>Encouraging PhD students to form a bridge between academia and industry will bolster collaborations and be a win-win for all. </p>
<h2>Improve PhD supervision</h2>
<p>The review also calls for more professional supervision through recognising excellence, driving metrics and providing high-quality training and ongoing professional development for supervisors.</p>
<p>While rates of satisfaction with supervisory experience for research students have <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/Research/ResearchReports/PostgraduateResearchExperience">steadily increased</a> over the past 14 years, surveys reveal that one in five research graduates is dissatisfied with the supervision they received. Negative <a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-types-of-phd-supervisor-relationships-which-is-yours-52967">expectations of cloning</a> (creating graduates in the image of the supervisor) and cheap labour still linger.</p>
<p>Research training needs to be valued as the human capital development required to build our innovation economy as well as for the research that research students produce. Increased emphasis on the skilled graduate as the major outcome of research training will require cultural change in supervisory practice. </p>
<h2>What other countries are doing</h2>
<p>In 2002 in the UK, the <a href="http://www.stfc.ac.uk/skills/impact-of-our-skills/postgraduate-training-and-skills/transferable-skills-development/">Roberts Review</a> catalysed a policy initiative that provided £120 million in new government funding for skills development of research higher degree candidates and postdoctoral research staff in STEM disciplines.</p>
<p>This program was a major cultural change in the provision of skills and career support for researchers in UK higher education institutions. It championed the value of investing in the development of individual researchers. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/skills/independentreviewhodge-pdf/">A review</a> of the program in 2010 confirmed that it had resulted in major improvement in the way career development and transferable skills training were provided for researchers. It was unable, however, to provide quantitative metrics of success because of the absence of baseline data. </p>
<p>Although no such dedicated funding has been available in Australia, many universities have invested in the delivery of transferable skills training to higher degree research (HDR) candidates. However, transferable skills development is not as strongly embedded in our research training system as in the UK and some other similar countries.</p>
<p>In 1999, Canada <a href="https://www.mitacs.ca/en">established Mitacs</a> as a part of its Network Centre of Excellence Program. Mitacs started as an initiative in mathematics, prompted by the loss of Canadian mathematics PhD graduates to the US.</p>
<p>The program expanded from 17 internships in 2003 to almost 3,200 in 2014-15. By 2020, 10,000 internships are expected to be delivered per year.</p>
<p>Although Australia has several small internship schemes for research students, we estimate that fewer than 120 of more than 20,000 HDR candidates undertook an internship in 2015. A Canadian HDR candidate is 16 times more likely to undertake a placement than their Australian counterpart.</p>
<p>Mitacs has 14 government partners including the federal government, most of the provincial governments and more than 60 universities. In 2014-15, Mitacs collaborated with 1,065 partners in Canada and 23 partners outside Canada; 79% were small to medium enterprises.</p>
<p>In 2014-15, it enabled two million hours of research work by interns for industry and not-for-profit partners, underpinned by an investment of C$22 million. </p>
<p>Mitacs surveys of their partners indicate that 82% have continued collaborations with the academic supervisor, 66% of the products of the collaborations have been commercialised and 47% have hired at least one intern. The majority of participating interns feel more employable as a result of their internship.</p>
<p><a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/main_report_final_20160112.pdf">The 2015 Review of Research Policies and Funding</a> recommended that Australian government funding of $12.5 million per year be provided to create a program to support universities to increase numbers of industry placements for PhD students. </p>
<p>The ACOLA review recommends that this funding be used to seed a national program of placements for research doctoral candidates, along the lines of Mitacs.</p>
<p>Certainly, some Australian research students already obtain experience by working on externally defined research problems, in non-academic settings with non-academic supervisors, especially as part of the Co-operative Research Centre system. </p>
<p>However, the review did not have enough data to evaluate the significance of such partnerships at a comprehensive national scale. This is an example of the inadequacy of the data available to determine the performance of the research training system and its value to Australia’s economic and social well-being.</p>
<p>The review calls for a longitudinal national data-collection exercise to monitor course satisfaction, course completions and career outcomes for HDR training. </p>
<p>Without such data, it is impossible to determine the return on this almost A$1 billion annual government investment in the development of the human capital required for the innovation economy.</p>
<hr>
<p>• <em>This piece was co-authored by John McGagh, chair of the ACOLA review expert working group. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Queensland.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57972/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helene Marsh was one of the Deputy Chairs of the Expert Working Group for the ACOLA Review of Research Training.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:m.western@uq.edu.au">m.western@uq.edu.au</a> receives funding from Department of Education and Training. Mark Western was Deputy Chair of the Expert Working Group for the ACOLA Review of the Research Training System.</span></em></p>
A new review of research training in Australia calls for transferable skills to be central to the training of PhD students.
Helene Marsh, Dean, Graduate Research , James Cook University
Mark Western, Director, Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/56745
2016-04-10T20:02:33Z
2016-04-10T20:02:33Z
When measuring research, we must remember that ‘engagement’ and ‘impact’ are not the same thing
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117931/original/image-20160408-23914-15ysns8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What is the purpose of measuring engagement, impact or quality?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-seeks-ideas-boom-with-innovation-agenda-experts-react-51892">Innovation Statement</a> late last year, the federal government indicated a strong belief that<a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-rules-for-successful-research-collaboration-53826"> more collaboration</a> should occur between industry and university researchers. </p>
<p>At the same time, <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/20151203_main_report1.pdf">government</a>, <a href="https://www.go8.edu.au/programs-and-fellowships/excellence-innovation-australia-eia-trial">education</a> and industry groupings have made numerous recommendations for the “impact” of university research to be assessed alongside or in addition to the existing assessment of the quality of research. </p>
<h2>How should we measure research?</h2>
<p>But what should we measure and, more importantly, why should we measure it?</p>
<p>In accounting, we stress that the measurement basis of something inevitably reflects the purpose for which that measure is to be used. </p>
<p>So what is the purpose of measuring engagement, <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-is-no-easy-way-to-measure-the-impact-of-university-research-on-society-50856">impact</a> or, for that matter, quality? </p>
<p>The primary reason for measuring quality seems fairly self-evident – as a major stakeholder in terms of funding (especially dedicated research-only funding), the government wants an assessment of just “how good” by academic standards such research really is. </p>
<p>Looking ahead, measures of quality such as the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) rankings have been speculated to potentially influence future funding via prestigious competitive schemes (such as the Australian Research Council), block funding for infrastructure and the availability of government support for doctoral students via Australian Postgraduate Awards. </p>
<p>So the demand for a measure of research quality and the potential uses of such a measure are pretty clear.</p>
<p>But what valid reasons are there for investing significant resources in the measurement of research impact or engagement? </p>
<p>If high-quality research addresses important practical problems (large or small), surely we would expect impact would follow? </p>
<p>In this sense, the extent of impact is really a joint product of the quality (or robustness) of research and the choice of topic (ie, practical versus more esoteric).</p>
<h2>Research impact needs time</h2>
<p>But over what period should impact be measured? </p>
<p><a href="https://www.go8.edu.au/programs-and-fellowships/excellence-innovation-australia-eia-trial">Recent exercises</a> such as that conducted by the Australian Technology Network and Group of Eight have a relatively short-term focus, as would any “impact assessment” tied to the corresponding period covered by the existing ERA time frame (say the last six years). </p>
<p>I and many others maintain that impact can only be assessed over much longer periods, and that in many cases short-term impact is potentially misleading. </p>
<p>How often have supposedly impactful results subsequently been rejected or overturned? </p>
<p>Such examples inevitably turn out to reflect low quality (and in some cases outright fraudulent) research.</p>
<h2>Ranking impact</h2>
<p>Finally, how can impact be ranked? Is there a viable measure that can distinguish between high and low impact? Existing case-study approaches are unlikely to yield any form of quantifiable measurement of research impact.</p>
<p>Equally puzzling is the call to measure research engagement. What is the purpose of such an exercise? Surely in a financially constrained research environment, universities readily recognise the importance of such engagement and pursue it constantly. </p>
<p>We don’t need a national assessment of engagement to encourage universities to engage. </p>
<p>Motive aside, one approach canvassed is the quantum of non-government investment in research (ie, non-government research income). </p>
<p>This is arguably one rather limited way to measure engagement, and is focused on input rather than output. If the purpose of any measurement is to capture outcomes, does it make sense to focus exclusively on inputs? The logic of this escapes me.</p>
<h2>Engagement and impact are not the same thing</h2>
<p>Even more worryingly, some use the terms engagement and impact interchangeably. </p>
<p>They would have us believe that a simple (but useful) measure of impact is the extent to which university researchers receive industry funding. Surely this is, at best, a measure of engagement, not impact.</p>
<p>Although the two are likely correlated, the extent will vary greatly across discipline areas. </p>
<p>Further, in business disciplines, much of the “knowledge transfer” that occurs via education (including areas such as executive programs) reflects the impact of the constant process of researching better business practices across areas such as accounting, finance, economics, marketing and so on.</p>
<p>Discretionary expenditure on such programs by business is surely an indication of the extent to which business schools and industry are engaged, yet this would be ignored if we focused on research income alone.</p>
<p>We must not lose sight that quality (ie, rigour and innovativeness) is a necessary but not sufficient condition for broader research impact.</p>
<p>Engagement is not impact, and simple measures such as non-government research income tell us very little about genuine external engagement between universities and industry.</p>
<p>As accountants know, performance measurement reflects its purpose. What we need before any further national assessment of attributes such as impact or engagement is clear understanding of the purpose of such an exercise. </p>
<p>Only when the purpose is clearly specified can we have a sensible debate about measurement principles.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56745/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Taylor is affiliated with the Australian Business Dean's Council as the 2016 ABDC Research Scholar </span></em></p>
Engagement is not impact, and simple measures such as non-government research income tell us very little about genuine external engagement between universities and industry.
Stephen Taylor, Professor of Accounting, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.