Transnational research training: Chinese visiting doctoral students overseas and their host supervisors

Abstract

International experience during doctoral training is critical in improving the quality of research training and establishing international networks. This study makes an original contribution to the understanding of the research partnership between visiting doctoral students and their supervisors. The current research draws upon empirical evidence from a survey, semi‐structured interviews and CV analysis of Chinese visiting doctoral students sponsored by the China Scholarship Council. Findings confirm the good quality of supervision and solid research mentorship for the recipient students, who are not officially enrolled in international host universities. This study also highlights research collaboration and networking, which have long‐term international research impact.

Studying Abroad, Social Capital, and Sino-Swiss Scientific Research Collaboration: A Study of Chinese Scholars Studying in Switzerland

“…Regarding the establishment and maintenance of Sino-Swiss international cooperation relationships, trust between doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and visiting doctoral students and their supervisor in Switzerland presents different degrees of difficulty, with varying characteristics. This research confirms the findings of previous studies on potential conflicts that may arise during international scientific research collaboration in terms of intellectual property ownership, sequence of authorship, and scientific discovery priority (Floyd, Schroeder and Finn, 1994;Katz and Martin, 1997;Shen, 2018). When parties do not belong to the same organization, conflicts in knowledge production caused by a lack of trust are likely to occur.…”

“…First, with rare exceptions (e.g., Ynalvez and Shrum, 2009;Murakami, 2014;Jiang and Shen, 2019), most studies on international scientific research cooperation emphasize the perspective of science and technology policy without paying adequate attention to the education system and educational mobility. Second, when explaining the relationship between academic mobility and international scientific research cooperation, most studies either highlight the role of scientific internationalism (Shen, 2018) or the differences in scientific research training systems (mentor guidance styles and modes of study) to explain whether international cooperation can be maintained (Ynalvez and Shrum, 2009). According to Ynalvez and Shrum (2009), when Filipino scholars return to their home country after completing their postgraduate training in the United States, Australia, or Japan, they are more likely to cooperate with Japanese scholars owing to more frequent interactions with Japanese supervisors than with American or Australian supervisors during their graduate studies.…”

“…Existing research generally focuses on a specific type of academic mobility, such as that of international doctoral students (Ynalvez and Shrum 2009), visiting doctoral students (Shen, 2018), postdoctoral researchers (Melin, 2004), and visiting faculty members (Patrício et al, 2018). However, little is known about the possible differences in social capital among scholars involved in different types of academic mobility.…”

A Systematic Review of International Higher Education Scholarships for Students From the Global South

“…Continuing with the example of Chinese scholarships, several authors pointed out that individuals educated in the STEM fields were recruited back home with promise of world-class laboratories, salary supplements, and financial support for their housing and children’s education (Zha & Wang, 2018). Shen (2018) wrote that Chinese doctoral students “leverage the superior faculty resources and research facilities overseas” (p. 224) to bring knowledge back home for economic development. While much of the research focuses on STEM fields, Chalid (2014) has noted that scholarships also develop important “soft skills” and intercultural competency.…”

Research network propagation: The impact of PhD students’ temporary international mobility

“…This situation is in theory a win-win for the visiting PhD students and for the hosting PhD supervisor and his or her students. A previous study found that more than 60% of Chinese exchange doctoral students in a STEM field published papers with their host supervisors (Shen, 2018). However, if the hosting university overemphasizes this practice, one supervisor may be supervising several PhD students from his or her own university in addition to those visiting.…”