T206 – International Collaborations: Costs, Benefits & the Role of Research Management

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SRA International – San Antonio, Texas

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Silke Blohm

Director Research & EnterpriseSOAS, University of London

Silke.blohm@soas.ac.uk

• Introduction• International collaboration

• What do we mean by it • Why do we collaborate• How has it changed

• Costs of collaboration & where to get the money from• Role of research support

• Skills• Resources

• Evaluation• (Brexit and how it might impact research)

Outline

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• > 20y experience in developing & managing academic & commercial projects

• Academic background with MSc in Physics and International Business, post-graduate research at MPI & teaching for Open University

• Consulted for university spin-outs & managed patent portfolio for pharmaceutical company

• Lead & restructured Research Grants & Contracts office at IoP, King’s College London

• Built-up Office of Research Services with 15 FTE at KAUST, Saudi Arabia

• Managing Director at Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Ethiopia

• Since 2014 Director of Research & Enterprise at SOAS

About me

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The world’s leading institution for the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East

Arts and humanities, languages and culture, law and social sciences

Non-European perspective. Interdisciplinary centres. Regional focus

SOAS President Graça Machel

Alumni include: Zeinab Badawi - broadcasterDavid Lammy – politicianNick Mulvey - musician

SOAS University of London

Some numbers/facts

Research: • 350+ academics• Sustainable food and water• The fairness of fair trade• Intercultural understanding through the

arts• Social change in a digital world• The rights of displaced people• Preserving endangered languages

Celebrating 100 years of SOAS 6

Teaching:• Undergraduate and postgraduate

degrees • 5,000+ students from 133 countries• Summer School (under grad level,

development studies, world music, languages)

• 4,000 distance learning students

• 60,000 students took our first MOOC ‘Understanding Research Methods’

• SOAS Language CentreEvening, Saturday and week-long courses

• Teacher training, certificates and diplomas

Opportunities:

• International research focus (Asia, Africa and Middle East)

• “Timely’ research expertise

• Strong alignment with global challenges

• Strong brand – celebrating its centenary

SOAS in an international context

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The big BUT

BUT:

• We haven’t done well in the UK

research excellence framework (REF)

• We don’t feature prominently in any

rankings (impacts on student income)

• Research income is low and has

been/was stagnant for years

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Observations:

• Small specialist institution – economies

of scale

• “Lone academic”

• Focus on individual partnerships

• Small scale projects: “My research

does not cost any money”

• Role of monographs

• Dilemma of national vs international

research priorities: “Who will fund our

research?”

What do we mean by it:

International collaboration

9Katz

21st century perspective:

• Research has no boundaries:• Increased specialism within disciplines• Movement as part of career (post-doc, short-term positions)• Desire to work with the best in any one subject

• Global challenges (development goals): • Increased need for interdisciplinary & innovative approaches• Need for buy in from more than one institution & country• Globalisation of funding

Why international collaboration?

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“Among the factors which motivate collaboration are funding

agencies' need to save money, the growing availability and falling

(real) cost of transport and communication, the desire for intellectual

interactions with other scientists, the need for a division of labour in

more specialised or capital-intensive areas of science, the

requirements of interdisciplinary research, and government

encouragement of international and cross-sectoral collaboration.”

J. Sylvan Katz, Ben R. Martin, 1997

Why international collaboration?(Cont)

11J.S. Katz, B.R. Martin, What is research collaboration? Research Policy 26 (1997) 1-18

How has it changed?

Source: OECD calculations based on Scopus Custom Data, Elsevier, version 5.2012, June 2013; OECD Scoreboard 2013 12

International collaboration measured in co-authorship

Jonathan Adams, The fourth age of research, Nature (2013), 497, 7451. 557-560,

Country-specific developments (1)

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Jonathan Adams, The fourth age of research, Nature (2013), 497, 7451. 557-560,

Country-specific developments (2)

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Skill or resource provision (access to

data)

Career & skill development

Increase relevance and visibility of our

research (‘attractive’ partner)

Puts our institution on the international

map – reputation

Improves ranking

Access to funding

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Why do we want to collaborate?

J. Adams, Nature (2015);527(7577) 58-9

Challenges: Establishing collaborations Finding partners Developing multi-site proposals

Governance Legal requirements throughout

the project

Project management Financial Academic

Not necessarily dependent on size

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BUT - Collaborations add complexity:

Examples: “We have a tight deadline. Can we

not just sign this NDA?” “I would like to apply for the ERC

call next week”

How an Indian art collective gets a PIC number

How to refund local transport expenses in Senegal

”I’ve already offered the job..”

Additional skills required

Increase in transaction costs

Dilemma of national vs international research priorities: “Who will fund our research?”

1. How to convince national funders to fund research with an international focus or to pay an international partner?

2. How to convince an overseas funder to spend money outside their geographical domain?

Consider funder objectives Value add Uniqueness of international partners

Who will fund international collaborations?

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SOAS and European funding:

The world’s leading institution for the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East

A case study

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.. and its perception:

Roads and the politics of thought: Ethnographic approaches to infrastructure development in South Asia – CoG (2014)

Since: Multilingual Locals and Significant

Geographies: For a New Approach to World Literature – AdG

A multi-sited ethnography of Modern Chinese Family Life – SG

The Hatha Yoga Project: Mapping Indian and Transnational Traditions of Physical Yoga through Philology and Ethnography – CoG

The Multimedia Yasna – AdG Biodiversity and Security – AdG

Consequences:

Previously stagnant research income/volume has risen by >25% in 2years

Follow-on successes with multi-million £ funding secured from DFID and DEVCO

Exponential increase in funding secured

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Game changer European funding ..

• Global challenges and increase in collaborative work have multiplied opportunities for international funding:

BUT: Terms & conditions often complex, e.g. legal requirements

• Some good news:• On 17 October 2016, the European Commission and the

United States of America have signed an Implementing Arrangement. The arrangement shall enable publicly funded entities in the US to collaborate with Horizon 2020-funded research projects without having to sign the Grant Agreement or become a Third Party. The Implementing Arrangement addresses US-researchers who do not receive funding from the respective Horizon 2020-project

Finding the right funder

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• Skills gap for both academics and research support:• Support focused on budgeting & compliance check• Reactive approach• Late submissions/involvement of office• No dedicated in-house contracts function• Limited expertise in running large-scale projects• School policies did not incentivise large grants

Challenges of success

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Developing large-scale multi-partner proposals Change from reactive to proactive approach Early engagement with PIs on research planning Create dedicated resource with expertise for large scale

projects Peer review process at early stage to identify most promising

projects and support both academic as well as structural project development

Analysis of funder objectives and dedicated resource for impact planning

How did research support need to change

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Contracts expertise required throughout the project (sub-contracts, international legal expertise) Created in-house contracts resource Library of preferred terms & conditions Contracts database & status log

Management of large awards Include project management resource in all large-scale

projects Pool project management resources into dedicated team

managed by our office School policies

Revision of overhead policy and RAM to incentivise external funding

How did research support need to change (cont)

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Academic engagement: Celebrate successes in-house Peer-to-peer workshops with successful grant-holder(s) Successful bids library Promote UKRO visits Organise Commission visits and workshops in Brussels for

both, ECRs and research administrators Joined up with other London universities Tailored support for proposal development Mock interviews and coaching Established central seedcorn fund

The role of our research support in this

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• Who will fund this project?• How does it match with institutional priorities?• What can an international partner contribute we cannot get in-

house or ‘nearby’?• What are the requirements of the project?• Who are the experts in the field?• What are the key requirements the partner has to fulfill

(scientifically as well as operationally)?• Is it feasible to work with international partners on this project

(infrastructure, funder objectives etc.)?• Are there other incentives of involving an international partner

(funding, reputation)?• Do we have the capacity and competence to manage and

deliver?

Questions to ask before the start

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• Key challenges:• Different languages• English as a second language• Different standards• Publication strategies & rules (OA etc)• Ethics• Governance• Law & legal requirements (highly regulated vs few standards in

place)• Different time zones, weekends, holidays

Cultural barriers of international collaborations

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Small versus big

Small:

• Limitation of risk

• Good way of testing collaboration

• Administrative costs can be high

compared to value of project

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Big:

• Needs institutional buy-in and

agreement on goals & objectives

• Synergy effects (student recruitment

etc)

• Be wary of MoUs

Small research project vs institutional partnership

Where do you find your research partners?

How to find the right partner

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• Existing partnership• Academic contacts

• Coordinating networks• Subject-specific search• Your contacts

How to find the right partner

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Partner selection:• Have we worked with this partner before?• If not, why do we want to do so now?• Do we have other established links (researchers coming from

that institution etc)?• If not, are there any obvious obstacles to consider?

A few selection criteria:• Unique contribution to research – resources, equipment,

expertise, access to samples• Common interest• Reputation of partner• Increased chances or eligibility for external funding

How to find the right partner

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Internal: Establish good working relationship

with academics, researchers Understand the facts:

Desired outcome Contribution of each partner and

why they have been selected Clarify your role - i.e. service

provision, support budget & proposal development, contract negotiations

Know about it early

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How to approach a potential collaboration

External: Establish contact to the respective

office as early as possible Be open and clear Outline and agree on approach Be realistic on timeline as well as

non-negotiable terms upfront Keep what is promised Understand the motivation of the

partner(s) to engage in the project Communicate clearly why your

institution wants to engage with this partner and clarify expectations

Build trust

“.. trust reduces complexity by ensuring that the social system is based on mutual expectations about actors’ future behaviour..” (Hardy & al, 1998 in Bachmann & Lane)

but

“.. trust is a risky investment..” (Luhmann, 1979)

Be wary of unbalanced, asymmetrical power relationships

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On TRUST

Luhmann, Niklas (1979) Trust and Power. Chichester: John Wiley

“The marriage proposal”

Collaboration vs competition

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Evaluating collaborations: Requires clear objectives at the onset

Some key parameters: Scientific success Outputs (publications, IP) (Research) reputation Ranking Student recruitment Funding

Was it all worth it?

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Impact measured by citations

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Evaluation of collaborations

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In a nutshell

Understand your researchers AND your partner(s)

CREATE WIN/WIN

Project needs to benefit all partners

BUT objectives might be different

Be aware of transaction costs & how to compensate them

Be clear on expected outcomes & drivers

Make sure to understand your partner’s environment

Use common sense BUT do never make assumptions

STATE THE OBVIOUS

share concerns and expectations

.. the 23rd June 2016 and a UK referendum

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And then there was..

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/brexit

SRA catalyst Oct 2016 for moreOverview:http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/brexit 38

Brexit & research

Government assurance from 13th Aug 20161:

• The Treasury will underwrite funding for approved Horizon 2020 projects applied for before the UK leaves the European Union

• The commitment will provide reassurance to applicants from the UK’s research and innovation base when applying for EU research funding

Chancellor Philip Hammond, 3rd Oct 20162:

• “We will guarantee those payments after Britain has left the EU.”

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Current situation for H2020

1 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/safeguarding-funding-for-research-and-innovation2 https://www.researchprofessional.com/0/rr/news/uk/politics/2016/10/Hammond-extends-EU-grant-guarantee.html

Funding secured for all projects and applications under H2020

Continue our discussion at:

40http://srainternational.org/meeting/section/2017-internationalcanadian-section-meeting

J. Adams, Collaborations: The rise of research networks, Nature (2012 ) 490, 335–336. J. Adams, The fourth age of research, Nature (2013) 497. 557-560. J. Adams, A well-connected world, Nature (2015) 527. 58-9 R.R. Brown, Interdisciplinarity: How to catalyse collaboration, Nature (2015) 525, 315 -7. J.S. Katz, B.R. Martin, What is research collaboration? Research Policy 26 (1997) 1-18 Luhmann, Niklas, Trust and Power Chichester: John Wiley, (1979) R. Van Noorden, Interdisciplinary research by the numbers, Nature (2015) 525. 306-7 OECD Scoreboard 2013, http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/oecd-science-

technology-and-industry-scoreboard-2013_sti_scoreboard-2013-en Elsevier for the UK’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), International

Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base, 2013: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/263729/bis-13-1297-international-comparative-performance-of-the-UK-research-base-2013.pdf

http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/brexit https://www.gov.uk/government/news/safeguarding-funding-for-research-and-innovation https://www.researchprofessional.com/0/rr/news/uk/politics/2016/10/Hammond-extends-EU-

grant-guarantee.html41

List of literature & links:

Contact: Silke BlohmDirector Research & EnterpriseSOAS, University of Londonsilke.blohm@soas.ac.uk

Thank you!

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