Spatial Strategies in International Research Collaboration:Individual Actions of Chinese Science and Engineering Scholars under the Background of Overlapping Risks
International research collaboration among Chinese science and engineering(S&E)scholars provides a crucial lens into China's significant strides in scientific research.Setting against the backdrop of an intensified decoupling between global and national scientific systems amidst Sino-US geopolitical tensions,this study examines the dynamics of international research collaboration among Chinese S&E scholars,draw-ing from in-depth interviews with 17 researchers and a university research department head.The findings highlight that the overlapping structural risks of Sino-US geopolitical competition and the COVID-19 pan-demic have led to three primary manifestations of international research collaboration:a diminished inclina-tion to collaborate among foreign scholars due to concerns over political scrutiny;a decline in collaboration quality owing to the inefficiencies and limitations of online communication;and a stagnation in international collaboration networks due to halted academic mobility.However,Chinese S&E scholars are not merely passive recipients of these structural risks.Specifically,they employ strategies such as"spatial linkage"to ac-tively seek and establish intermediary collaborations and expand bilateral mechanisms to multilateral ones;"spatial continuation"to selectively maintain past collaborations based on strong ties;and"spatial expan-sion"to develop alternative collaborations focusing on weak ties.These strategies underscore the potential for a bottom-up approach to address collaboration challenges and promote the reintegration of national and global scientific systems.Consequently,it is recommended that higher education institutions support re-searchers by tailoring to their collaboration needs,facilitating low-political-risk collaboration opportunities,assisting in completing various administrative processes,providing secure and efficient online communication environments,and revitalizing scholar exchange mechanisms to bolster international collaboration networks and ensure quality.As geopolitical competition leads to a decoupling of the"national-global"research sys-tems,the structural risks in international research collaboration are gradually shifting to agency risks,empha-sizing the need to recognize the influential proactive actions of individual scientists in global scientific endeav-ors.
international research collaborationSino-US Geopolitical rivalryscience and engineer-ing scholarsspatial strategyacademic mobility
万方数据
维普
