WS3 Enabling equitable and effective international research collaborations

Target Audience: 
The workshop is targeted at those working in or facilitating international research collaborations, both at universities and funding organisation.

Workshop content and learning outcomes: 

This workshop builds on a series of global workshops conducted by the British Academy in the UK, Brazil, Kenya, South Africa and Malaysia with a wide range of stakeholders (funders, researchers, research managers, network organisations and others) to better understand why there are still so many barriers to undertaking equitable international research collaboration despite many years of research and advocacy into the topic.

The workshop utilises an interactive technique that brings together a reflection on challenges encountered in international research collaboration in the context of participants’ own research environments with an exploration of activities that have worked in other geographies. Based on this, participants will jointly identify opportunities and how to operationalise them in their local context.

In this workshop, we seek to challenge perceptions of weakness or powerlessness and encourage participants to reflect on their own role in equitable partnerships. Participants are encouraged to develop viable actions that they can utilise in their local environment or institution.

The workshop will enhance understanding of different research environments and how to navigate seemingly incompatible systems. It will reflect on existing resources and consider how better uptake, knowledge sharing, policy adjustments, or use of technological developments could accelerate progress towards equitable partnerships. It will raise awareness of existing resources that aid international research collaborations.

Workshops facilitators: 

Silke Blohm



Silke is founding director of 4Sciences Group Ltd, a UK-based business supporting Higher Education development and research excellence, and has longstanding experience in institutional and strategic development, creating governance & policy frameworks as well as research support structures and research portfolio development, supporting the whole research lifecycle in different regional and cultural settings. She held senior management positions at universities in three continents, most recently as Director Research & Enterprise, SOAS University of London, Managing Director, Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Ethiopia and Senior Advisor to the Pan-African University, Cameroon. Prior to that she established the Office of Research Services at KAUST, Saudi Arabia. Based on her international experience, Silke’s work has a strong focus on equitability in international research activities. Recently, Silke has been supporting the British Academy’s approach to enable equitable partnerships, including the design and delivery of a series of global workshops on equitable partnerships in international research collaborations.

 

Alex Levis 

Alex Lewis joined the British Academy in 2023. As Director of Research, she leads the delivery of the Academy’s UK and international research portfolio, ensuring the effective distribution of over £50 million in research funding annually as well as overseeing the growth of the Academy’s Early Career Research Network and the monitoring and evaluation team. Alex was previously the Director of Research Strategy at the University of Surrey, where her focus was on large strategic research initiatives and to help the university secure funding and build partnerships. Prior to this Alex spent six years at SOAS, first as Research Manager and then as Director of Research and Enterprise, and during this time successfully modernised the research support, which helped to double research income, and strongly advocated for supporting equitable partnerships.


Hannah Bennett