Redefining Research Capacity in a Changing Higher Education Landscape

1. Redefining Research Capacity in a Changing Higher Education Landscape Some Reflections On The Social Sciences Sydney Southeast Asia Centre Associate Professor Michele Ford

2. OUTLINE • Australian government support for collaboration • Existing forms of collaboration with Indonesia • Patterns within collaboration • Barriers to collaboration • Spaces for future collaboration

3. SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONALISATION • NHRMChas opened its schemes to topics of regional interest, which has greatly expanded possibilities for collaboration in Southeast Asia. • ARC Discovery grant scheme now includes provisions for funding of collaborator visits to Australia (but still requires partners to make a significant cash or in-kind contribution – a significant barrier). • The Australian Academy of Social Sciences has a small international program, which aims to facilitate international research linkages. • There remains an important role for in-house schemes to promote collaboration and mobility run by universities  strong internal support allows particular institutions to establish a point of difference.

4. WHY INDONESIA? • There has been a strong push for greater internationalisation of Australian research sector since 2007. • Australia is well placed to engage strategically in the research space in Indonesia • Has a critical mass of Indonesia specialists and of disciplinary experts in areas of policy interest to Indonesia (governance, public health, environmental management, etc) • The Australian government values its relationship with Indonesia • Creates opportunities for researchers through the aid program, and through general policy engagement • Generates ‘champions’ within government for Indonesia-related research and research collaboration with Indonesians

5. TARGETED GRANT SCHEMES

6. WAYS AUSTRALIANS COLLABORATE • Ad hoc collaborations (range of disciplines) • Collaborations between Indonesian academics and their former supervisors (e.g. ANU economics, UCan HRM, CDU accounting) • Collaborations between an Australian researcher and Indonesian professionals (e.g. USyd medical anthropology) • Indonesia specific grants (many institutions, wide range of disciplines, area experts and others) • Joint ARC grants (e.g. UWA/ANU/Newcastle anthropology/sociology) • Institutional research partnerships (e.g. CDU management of marine environments) • Embedded researchers (e.g. UQ psychology, USyd veterinary science)

7. PATTERNS OF COLLABORATION • Collaboration between Australian and Indonesian academics occurs in a wide range of social sciences disciplines but the overall intensity is low. • Interviews suggested that in many cases, Indonesian researchers were eager to collaborate more with Australian partners, but had difficulty establishing collaborative relationships. • Collaborations are easier to establish: • Where Australian disciplinary scholars have little country knowledge depend heavily on local partners for access to data • Where quantitative research is involved • Collaborations are harder to establish where they involve: • Indonesia specialists in the qualitative social sciences • Scholars interested primarily in theoretical questions

8. DIFFERENCES IN ACADEMIC CULTURE • One of the reasons for this is that there are some important differences inacademic culture, particularly within the critical social sciences: • Emphasis on documentation versus interrogation • Focus on getting the research done and moving on to the next project versus writing the research up in a way that engages with international debates • Focus on publication in accessible venues in Indonesia (including newspapers) versus publication in international journals • These differences affect collaborations in some disciplines more than in others. They have most impact in the critical social sciences.

9. STRUCTURAL BARRIERS • Independent of discipline, there are a number of serious challenges to research collaboration with Indonesian scholars, some structural, some a product of differences in academic culture. • Structural barriers: • Onerous, and uncertain, process for obtaining research visas for Australian partners • Red tape involved in gaining institutional permission/commitment • Incentive structures within Indonesian and Australian universities encourage academics to prioritise different things • Indonesia is not a high-status destination for collaborations • Indonesian researchers generally do not have enough time to focus intensively on the collaborative research project, or do not accord the same importance to its outcomes

10. MOVING FORWARD • International research collaborations are valued in both the Australian and Indonesian contexts. • For Australian universities seeking to broaden their international profile, collaboration offers a way to internationalise the work of scholars from a broad range of disciplines (as opposed to only area studies experts). • BUT for collaborations to be sustainable, each collaborator must gain some substantial benefit from his or her participation. • The big question, then, is how do institutions (and governments) help researchers • overcome initial barriers to collaboration; and • sustain collaboration long enough to create meaningful intellectual partnerships?