Globalising Geographies of Research

Global research collaborations are being fostered by multiple constituencies: international and national funding bodies who are increasingly focused on research 'grand challenges'; universities who are seeking to expand their research remits in increasingly resource constrained environments; and individual researchers for whom global networks are increasingly important to successful careers. International organisations, funding bodies, government departments, higher education associations and universities themselves are all grappling to understand and foster these new globalising geographies of research. To date, however, there has been virtually no academic research on these research collaborations.

This WUN programme examines how, why and in what forms globalising research projects are emerging. It analyses a strategically selected set of projects from the perspectives of funders, formal university networks, research development professionals, and academics themselves. The projects range from 'big science' initiatives based on shared research infrastructure to the bilateral projects and informal networks more often found in the social sciences and humanities. The aim is to identify the emerging research geographies; their infrastructure (institutions, imaginaries, technologies, movements, funding), the forms they take, how these new research knowledges circulate, and the new connections being made. This generates a better understanding of the diverse rationales, incentives, and consequences of research collaborations driven by global aspirations.

The programme takes the form of a two day, high-level, practice oriented, seminar held in Bristol June 2011. The seminar will feature presentations by research stakeholders from each of the four participating countries/ regions (funders (4), network and association representatives (4), research development professionals (4), academics (4)), and a series of interactive exercises designed to generate base line research data by mapping the geographies of globalising research projects. It will also allow all seminar participants to reflect critically and collectively on their experiences of such projects, and to scope new ways forward.

For more information on this project, please see http://www.bris.ac.uk/wun/events/2012/ggher.html

New research themes under the WUN Global Higher Education and Research (GHEAR) Global Challenge were identified by the Steering Group.