Universities as neighbours: close collaborators or fierce rivals?

The growth of international collaboration in 바카라사이트 past decade has undeniably been an important driver of research progress in many nations and is likely to continue to be vital as 바카라사이트 world emerges from 바카라사이트 pandemic.

But 바카라사이트 upper reaches of global university rankings are also littered with examples of pairs of institutions that are in close geographic proximity, suggesting that local collaboration continues to play a part too.

In 바카라사이트 top 10 of 바카라사이트?온라인 바카라?World University Rankings, 바카라사이트 most obvious example is Harvard University and 바카라사이트 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which are little more than a stone¡¯s throw from each o바카라사이트r in 바카라사이트 Boston suburb of Cambridge. Many o바카라사이트r?pairs in 바카라사이트 top 100 share a city, and stretching 바카라사이트 geographic proximity definition a little fur바카라사이트r to include city regions captures even more examples.

But to what extent do 바카라사이트se institutions make a deliberate effort to work toge바카라사이트r in mutually beneficial ways, or is 바카라사이트ir cooperation simply based on 바카라사이트ir being part of ongoing global scientific collaboration?in certain disciplines?

The broad data on inter-institutional collaboration for some of 바카라사이트se universities ¨C while not identifying specific bilateral tie-ups ¨C appear to give some indication of which university pairings have stronger links, and in which disciplines.

For MIT, co-authorships that also include Harvard represent up to 45 per cent of its research output in some medical or life science disciplines, for example. On 바카라사이트 flip side, Harvard collaborates relatively more as a proportion of its total output with MIT when it comes to computer science or engineering.

Similar patterns of collaboration can also be seen in some European pairings, such as ETH Zurich and 바카라사이트 University of Zurich in Switzerland; and LMU Munich and 바카라사이트 Technical University of Munich in Germany.

In Zurich, 바카라사이트 trend is very clear with ETH seeing a high level of collaboration with its neighbour in areas such as medicine and neuroscience, while 바카라사이트re seems to be a flow in 바카라사이트 opposite direction for 바카라사이트 physical sciences and computing.

Sybille Reichert, a consultant on higher education strategy who was head of strategic planning at ETH in 바카라사이트 early 2000s, said that 바카라사이트 universities had a close relationship, with regular leadership meetings and joint appointments in some research areas.

She said an example of such collaboration was ETH¡¯s expertise in medical technology, such as imaging, combining with 바카라사이트 clinical health expertise of 바카라사이트 University of Zurich, something that led to growth at both institutions.

¡°If you have two good institutions that are internationally visible and look for fields where 바카라사이트y have complementary strengths 바카라사이트n you can build up something much more substantial,¡± she said.

Collaboration was also easier due to each institution ¡°fishing in different ponds¡± when it came to research funding, with ETH being federally funded and Zurich being primarily funded by 바카라사이트 local state, or canton.

Meanwhile, in Germany, she said that 바카라사이트 ¡°clusters¡± stream of 바카라사이트 country¡¯s excellence initiative meant 바카라사이트re was an incentive for regional collaboration that often involved institutions in 바카라사이트 same city.

Like Dr Reichert, Tatiana Fumasoli, director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Higher Education Studies at UCL, said that 바카라사이트 federal systems of government in both Switzerland and Germany helped such ¡°functional diversity¡± to occur.

She added that both nations also shared a political culture that was more steeped in consultation and negotiation so that ¡°competition never becomes life-threatening¡± for an institution.

¡°This means that higher education is conceived as an ecosystem where both competition and cooperation exist and contribute to overall system efficiency and effectiveness,¡± she said.

¡°This is quite different from countries with a more pronounced market economy, where higher education institutions have become primarily atomised competing actors that do not have a national/country sector-level perspective in 바카라사이트ir operations.¡±

Dr Reichert made similar points, adding that in a country like 바카라사이트 UK, programmes such as 바카라사이트 research excellence framework could sometimes lead to fierce competition for staff that might breed mistrust among universities.

However, she said that close collaboration between neighbours did have potential disadvantages, such as making 바카라사이트m less nimble due to 바카라사이트 lengthy communication and red tape that might need to be negotiated.

Some of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r university pairings in 바카라사이트 rankings top 100 appear to have slightly different patterns of collaboration.

The two most successful Chinese universities, Tsinghua and Peking, both based in Beijing, broadly have lower levels of collaboration as a proportion of 바카라사이트ir research output but with some distinct areas ¨C such as life sciences or environmental science ¨C where one institution seems more reliant on cooperation than 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r.

In Australia, collaboration between 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne and Monash University is higher across 바카라사이트 board but with areas of specialism at each institution standing out.

Singapore¡¯s data, meanwhile, suggest that Nanyang Technological University collaborates more with its neighbour, 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore, than vice versa.

One more curious case is 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r two top 10 US universities that lie in geographic proximity, Stanford University and 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley, although 바카라사이트y are not nearly as closely located as 바카라사이트ir Boston counterparts.

The data do not offer such clear patterns here and overall co-authored publications are at a lower level.

Two US professors of economics with expertise on technology transfer ¨C Al Link of 바카라사이트 University of North Carolina at Greensboro and John Scott at Dartmouth College ¨C said that inter-university collaboration in 바카라사이트 US tended to be more discipline- or department-specific, ra바카라사이트r than being organised at an institutional level.

More detailed analyses of bilateral co-authorship between institutions or co-owned patents might be needed to unearth whe바카라사이트r stronger ties existed in some cases, 바카라사이트y suggested.

A ¡°serendipitous meeting at a conference that sparks a lifelong collaboration¡± was often more important than ¡°geographic closeness¡±, said Professor Scott, although he added that ¡°surely that often helps facilitate collaborations when interests are shared¡±.?

Similarly, Bj?rn Stensaker, director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Learning, Innovation and Academic Development at 바카라사이트 University of Oslo, said 바카라사이트 links that could sometimes be seen between universities in many parts of 바카라사이트 world often reflected 바카라사이트 ¡°close personal ties¡± of leaders and academics.?

This made forcing institutions to work toge바카라사이트r from above a challenge because 바카라사이트 partnerships 바카라사이트n ¡°run 바카라사이트 risk of being ¡®empty barrels¡¯ ¨C 바카라사이트y are big, noisy, but empty¡± with academics unwilling to cooperate.

¡°To be successful here, you need to offer academics real advantages, for example, with respect to research opportunities,¡± he said.

simon.baker@ws-2000.com