University leaders clash over future of research collaboration

University leaders have clashed over the future shape of cross-border research collaborations in the wake of mounting global geopolitical uncertainty, including that caused by the war in Ukraine.

Some presidents attending Times Higher Education’s World Academic Summit, held at New York University, stressed that the strain on international ties “will only get worse” if all academic links are severed with countries that are perceived as threats, such as Russia; while others advocated a break with institutions that “do not share the same values”.

Sir Anthony Finkelstein, president of City, University of London, and previously the chief scientific adviser for national security to the UK government, said there should be recognition that science and technology “are a domain of strategic competition between states”.

“I have heard a lot of talk here about sustaining the trust between scientists,” he added. “Yes, but not if that trust is unwarranted.”

Sir Anthony said that “partnership requires alignment of values” and “if we do not share values, we can only engage transactionally”.

Such relationships “aren’t a bad choice – entered carefully, purposefully and well managed”, but he called for a greater understanding of what it means to use the words “partner” and “partnerships”.

“History bears some uncomfortable lessons in this regard,” he said, pointing to academic collaborations with Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. “That has to inform the moral stance that we take,” he added.

Joël Mesot, president of ETH Zurich, said he disagreed with such a wary approach to international collaboration, emphasising that scientific partnerships can be an alternative when diplomatic ties have broken down.

“Don’t forget why Cern was created; Cern was created because Germany and France were not talking to each other at the end of the Second World War,” he reminded attendees. If academics don’t talk, he said, “the situation can only get worse”.

Xue Lan, the dean of Schwarzman College at China’s Tsinghua University, agreed that international collaborations needed to be protected, if not in research linked to industry, then in “curiosity development”.

“I think we have already seen the fruits of this among researchers in different countries,” he said.

“Collaborate or crumble” should be the new mantra for higher education to replace “publish or perish”, Rocky Tuan, vice-chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said from the conference floor. He called for the development of partnerships focused around the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, to allow researchers to focus on problem-solving in areas where there are “shared values”.

But Guillaume Fiquet, vice-president of international relations and partnerships at Sorbonne University in Paris, said global instability had brought about a realignment, with countries such as Australia and Canada now looking back towards Europe to find trusted partners, turning away from China and Russia.

Dawn Freshwater, vice-chancellor of the University of Auckland, said imposing tighter restrictions on collaborations was a way for universities to make a statement: “We don’t share the same values and we don’t agree with this, in fact we deplore what’s happening.” Where there is “a differential around values and context”, it “might just be a step too far for us to collaborate”, she said.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com