Pursuing scientific excellence globally: internationalising research as a policy target

Abstract

International collaboration is a rapidly growing aspect of university research and a priority of research funding agencies. This article investigates the rationales that underlie Canadian federal research councils' support of international research collaborations. Such support has deep roots in Canadian science and technology policy but has taken on a new importance in the past decade. Even in a context of increasingly costly scientific activity and fierce competition for resources, four sets of goals and associated arguments underpin investments in international collaboration: (1) creating economy of scale, (2) developing human resources, (3) advancing economic and scientific competitiveness and (4) solving global problems. Overall, international research collaborations are today a key policy target in Canada, sought for a variety of reasons but not without challenges.

What large-scale publication and citation data tell us about international research collaboration in Europe: changing national patterns in global contexts

“…Scientists in Europe engage increasingly in international collaboration because they benefit more from this than from institutional or national collaboration. These patterns also reflect a drive by national governments and the European Commission (EC) to make IRC growth an explicit policy target (European Commission 2007Lasthiotakis, Sigurdson, and Sá 2013).…”

The Internationalization of brazilian postgraduate programs : a strategic approach

“…The vision lies in expanding knowledge through research based on the core criterion of scientific excellence (Lasthiotakis, Sigurdson and Sá, 2013). Scientific excellence is the cornerstone of the vision and is its ultimate goal.…”

Nauka

“…3), ponieważ korzystają z tego typu współpracy w większym stopniu niż z dwóch innych rodzajów współpracy -instytucjonalnej i krajowej. Wzorce współpracy europejskiej wynikają również z wyraźnego nacisku ze strony rządów krajowych i Komisji Europejskiej, co czyni współpracę w badaniach celem politycznym (Lasthiotakis, Sigurdson, Sá, 2013;Komisja Europejska, 2007;Komisja Europejska, 2009).…”