Researcher speed-dating: developing strategic collaborations with international partners
From meeting online to forming long-term relationships, researchers’ shared projects can foster stronger international partnerships between universities
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International student exchanges between universities are relatively easy to set up. Yet, for these international partnerships to become strong partnerships, long-term relationships and real strategic alliances, they require research collaborations.
The main challenge is that research collaborations depend on the will of researchers to work together and, beyond this will, on their knowledge of the partner university’s research activities. At UTC, we asked ourselves: how we can boost research collaborations with our international partner universities? The main conclusion was that we needed to connect researchers. The question was how, and the answer we propose is research speed-dating.
The idea is to create opportunities to get to know the research at partner universities and to meet their researchers. This process consists of three main activities:
- online research speed-dating
- both-ways mobility for matching researcher(s) to spend a week at the partner university
- provision for support funding for a master’s research internship and for PhD supervision.
Online research speed-dating
The online research speed-dating consists of a two-hour online seminar. In the first hour, each faculty member has three minutes to present their research interests. In the second hour, separate discussion rooms are set up for each research domain for free discussion.
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The seminar starts with a small introduction to all the tools and funding sources possible for research collaboration between the two institutions and countries. Most of the time, researchers will have their own funding in place, but this introduction to potential funds available encourages researchers’ collaboration. The idea is to ensure that the request is not for them to use their funds but to connect, and the university will aid in securing funds for the first collaboration.
Efficient preparation for this seminar is key to the success of the whole process. First, we compare the strategic research topics of both universities and set up a list of research topics of common interest. Then, one university sends an invitation to all relevant faculty to participate, and those interested provide a biography. This list is submitted to the second university, which sends it to all relevant faculty and asks who might be interested in meeting and discussing the research topics with the identified researchers from the partner university. The main idea is to have at least one researcher interested from both universities per research topic.
Financial support for researchers to visit a partner university
The mobility offer consists of the international office financing three faculty members’ travel for a week each. Each partner university has to offer the same number of places in return.
Pairs of researchers are required to submit a one-page proposal of their potential research collaboration within two weeks of the online research speed-dating seminar taking place. It is in a free format focusing only on the research question of interest and the potential topic of research collaboration with arguments on the complementarity of researchers’ work. A jury from both universities studies the proposals and chooses the three most promising ones. Then, the faculty submitting the chosen proposals benefit from the one-week mobility. The researchers are required to travel within six months of their proposal being chosen.
For example, three researchers from UTC spent one full week at the partner university, and three researchers from the partner university spent one full week at UTC each. The agenda of the visit is defined by the two professors, and can include participating in courses or giving a seminar, but is mainly focused on visiting the technological platforms, meeting the entire research teams and working on new research ideas.
Potential funding for master’s research internship or PhD supervision
After the visit, the three pairs of researchers are asked to submit a short report on potential collaborations and what types of funding might be necessary. From the three proposals, one is chosen to receive funding for a master’s student internship for six months and for PhD supervision within the next year. Each partner university offers half the required funds.
It’s a match!
This research speed-dating was tested between our university and an American partner university. A total of 14 researchers participated in the programme, from which we received three research collaboration proposals. After the six visits, today we are supporting the securing of funding for two research collaborations.
Connecting researchers is the key to a long-term successful international collaboration between universities. Student exchange is a first step, but it does not lead to strong partnerships. Hence, finding ways to develop and support research collaborations is key to creating strong, long-term international partnerships. This can only be done through connecting researchers and offering funds for research collaboration development.
Joanna Daaboul is director of international relations, assistant professor and coordinator of the Sunrise European universities alliance at Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France.
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