International Research Strategies

1. International Research Strategies Removing Barriers to Implementation in Norway, New Zealand and the UK

2. Learning Outcomes • At the end of this session you will: • have acquired a basic knowledge of the HE context of Norway, the UK and New Zealand • will understand the key drivers, catalysts and barriers to the internationalisation of research at the University of Oslo, Newcastle University and the University of Auckland • have considered the similarities and differences regarding the formation and implementation of international research strategies in Norway, the UK and New Zealand • be able to extrapolate general recommendations for potential application within your own institution

3. Schedule • Introduction • University of Oslo Case Study • Newcastle University Case Study • University of Auckland Case Study • General Success Factors • Discussion

4. International Research Strategies Why? • Response to globalisation/global competition • Global solutions to global problems • International profile But • Greater risk • Increased complexity • Rate of change a challenge for sector, institutions and individual academics and managers

5. Case Study University of osloCase Study

6. Norwegian HE context • Norway: periphery of Europe, but international outlook and engagementand full associate EU-member (EEA); geography/politics/economy • Small and dispersed system: 4 ‘old’ research-intensive universities and 4 new; 6 specialised universities, 25 university colleges, and several research institutes. • Research focus: excellence, global social commitment and industrial development. Norwegian research: in several areas at highest international levels. • Funding: Floor-funding from state; for research as % of GDP above world average; but not high by international standards. • Competitive income: Research Council of Norway (CoE’s, Thematic, geographic priorities etc); EU (FP’s, ERC) • Quality Reform: in 2003 (‘Bologna’ prossess, 3+2+3)

7. Introducing the University of Oslo • Norway’s leading university, largest and oldest (200-yrs in 2011), traditional nation-building role, broad research-intensive university, 8 Faculties, several research environments at the highest international levels • World ranking: 69th(Shanghai) and 185th (THE), 89th (QS) • State of the art: labs, office facilities, libraries, technical support • Interdisciplinary research: strategic focus on Energy and Life Sciences • Excellence: 10 of Norway’s 21 current CoE’s, 30% of all national competitive funding, 20% EU-application acceptance and growing EU-revenues • International orientation: • 27000 students - 13% international; 29 % PhD candidates and 17.5 % of the academic staff from abroad • Traditionally wide international collaboration with the Nordic countries, Europe, USA, the global South • Since 1995, growing collaborative focus on ‘BRICS’: Initiatives with Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, as well as Japan

8. International research strategy Strategy2020 (SP20): Main objectives: • 10-year institutional-level strategy (2010-20), • Strengthen UiO’s position internationally in research and higher education • Focus on quality at all levels and increased global participation/responsibility • Action plan for internationalisation 2012-2014: institutional level follow-up of SP20, 4 selected focus areas where central coordination could make a difference: • Mobilisation for global challenges • Strategic collaboration • International profiling (study programmes and research) • Competence and capacity for internationalisation • Rolling Annual plans (at institutional and faculty levels) for allocations and operationalisation, also linked to budget(s) and funding allocations

9. Specific barriers • National geography, history, language, ‘personality’, egalitarianism/district politics, complacency/ambitions, short term political objectives and mechanisms • ‘Room to manoeuvre’ a national challenge: the level of funding available should give better results, but national commitments and ‘path-dependency’ (Benner & Öqvist, 2014) • At national policy-level: main focus and funding for international activity earmarked for participation in EU-programmes; long-term strategic bilateral investment in international collaboration outside the EU underfunded; fragmented and short-term mechanisms; absorption capacity • At institutional level: reduced central strategic funding and decentralised leadership in internationalisation of research – some fragmentation and adhocness, diffident or reactive approach to opportunities • At researcher and academic unit levels: Knowledge gaps about funding sources, cooperation modalities, synergy opportunities – an ongoing challenge

10. Achievements • Strategy 2020: a guiding path – if not a roadmap – for UiO in regional (EU, Nordic) and global cooperation in research and higher education. All faculties relate to this through their rolling Annual Plans. • Action plan for internationalisation: specific results and several longer term processes set in motion: Mobilisation for global challenges: • Interfaculty thematic initiatives: UiO Energy, Life Sciences • Global Governance for Health, Science Diplomacy (Myanmar, Tibet), • Global citizens Strategic collaboration: • Strategic partnerships (US/Berkeley; Tanzania/UDSM) • Increased collaborative activities with focus countries: Brazil, Russia, India, (China), Japan, USA , South Africa Competence and capacity for internationalisation: • Increased EU-portfolio and revenues • Better data and improved web-communication in English • Greater university-wide awareness of collaboration patterns and opportunities • Increased international recruitment (academic staff and students)

11. CASE STUDY Newcastle University

12. UK Higher Education Context • UK HE sector: large, diverse and strong – 160 institutions, 71 in the QS top 200 in the world. UK Ranked second in the world for teaching and research. • Funding: Public money contributes a % of nearly all UK HE income (via block grants and specific programme grants). Autonomous and independent with long tradition of academic freedom • Main issues: tuition fees and recruitment caps, widening access, ‘impact’ agenda, open data/access, online provision etc. • Internationalisation: increased focus over the past decade • Response to globalisation and to global competition. • Growing recognition that global problems need global solutions • Increasing opportunities for funding and support • Threatened and curtailed UK based opportunities • UK HE working together

13. Introducing Newcastle University • Excellence with a Purpose: A world-class civic university; in the Russell Group of leading UK research-intensive universities; ranked in the top 200 of universities in the world; placed 17th in the UK for research power and generating £150m in research income (2013). • Comprehensive and established:3 faculties and 24 schools; ≈23,000 students and ≈5,500 staff; 200 years in Medicine, 150 years in Science & Engineering and 100 years in Arts & Social Sciences. • Addressingsocietal challenges: Cross cutting, interdisciplinary themes – Ageing, Sustainability and Social Renewal • Global Profile: • 22% students international • 2 overseas campuses – NUMed, Malaysia and NUIS, Singapore • Bi-lateral partnerships – eg. Confucius Institute & strategic partnership with Xiamen University, NE China; medical science link with Monash University, Australia; and cross university links with PUCRS, Brazil. • Member of RENKEI – Anglo-Japanese research network

14. International Research Strategy • Research elements incorporated into Internationalisation Strategy (2012) based upon Vision 2021 – A World-class Civic University • Internationalisation abroad • High-quality in-country operations including research • International collaborations • Cohort of high-quality partner universities • Internationalisation at home • Recruit excellent international staff and students • International opportunities for staff and students • Attract best international researchers to collaborate at Newcastle • New impetus – Global ambition and focus on reputation and visibility • New international role in research office to: • Increase knowledge of and access to international research funding • Incentivise high quality international research collaborations • Raise the visibility of the University’s research profile within the international landscape. • Development of target countries specific to international research agenda with a mixed economy of aspirational, peer and emerging partners

15. Specific Barriers • Stereotyping, generalisations and geography: the ‘Golden Triangle’ effect, the North/South divide and the reputation factor • Specifically international funding opportunities limited in number, scope and nature • At institutional level: • Siloes, jurisdictions and competing priorities • Too little and too much strategic prioritisation and steer • Conflicting pressures on academic staff • Lack of mechanisms for internationalisation • Knowledge gaps and risk aversion

16. Achievements Internationalisation of Research Abroad • In-country operations - NUIS (Newcastle University International Singapore) • Strong multidisciplinary base of 35 research-active staff • More than SGD6M worth of research funding since 2012 • Springboard to the region • International collaborations • European Funding – targeted allocation of resources and professional staff with established knowledge working with motivated academics • New International Research Funding post intended to extend that success to key non-European contexts • Country specific, holistic approach eg. Brazil and Indonesia • Cohort of high-quality partner universities • Strategic bi-lateral partnerships at various stages of development • Exploring multi-lateral networks – eg. Japan – RENKEI (British Council) Internationalisation of Research at Home • International staff and PhD recruitment and international mobility for researchers • Established new pump-priming fund to incentivise international research activity especially that targeting international research funding, involving early career researchers and introducing international scholars to Newcastle’s strengths

17. University of AucklandCASE STUDY

18. New Zealand Higher Education Context • NZ geographically isolated but strong outward-facing focus, located in South Pacific • 8 research-led Universities situated in main centres in NZ, many smaller TEIs • 7 government-funded Centres for Research Excellence and 7 government-funded CRIs • Tertiary Education Commission subsidises student tuition but students also required to pay fees • Contestable Performance-based Research Fund funded by TEC – researchers assessed every 6 years • Contestable funding for basic research, health-based research and applied research from 3 government funding agencies (RS&T vote)

19. Introducing University of Auckland • University of Auckland is NZ’s largest and most comprehensive university – 8 Faculties and 2 large-scale research institutes • Research-led university with 1/3 top-ranked researchers in 2012 PBRF round and largest graduate school in NZ • Only NZ University ranked in top 200 of Times Higher Education World University Rankings and in top 100 of QS World University Rankings • Strong international focus – over 35,000 domestic students and 5,000 international students • Ranked 19= in recent THE rankings for “international outlook” (international student numbers, international staff and proportion of international research co-publications) • University’s main campus located in heart of Auckland, which was ranked 3rd out of 221 world cities for quality of living in 2012 Mercer Quality of Living Survey

20. International research strategy • Strategy 2009-2013 arose from desire to increase amount of research income UoA earns from overseas sources since amount was well below Australian and UK-benchmarked Universities. • International research funding strategy only. • Based on scoping exercise which identified barriers to success • 3-pronged strategy • Leverage success using case management approach to build on foundations of successful teams • Get to know the funding agencies in key countries (identified as UK, USA and Australia) • Work with other research organizations to build strategic alliances in priority areas

21. Specific Barriers External • Remoteness of NZ – collaborations time-consuming to establish and maintain • Difficulties of obtaining information • World-wide economic recession Internal • Not linked with the wider UoA internationalisation strategy • Strategy seen as “top-down” • Unfamiliarity of researchers and research support staff with international funding sources • Case management approach – difficult for one person to provide support

22. Achievements • Extra resourcing – travel, workshop funding, appointment of additional staff • Setting agreed targets for international research funding by Faculty • Organisation of workshops for specific funds • Mentoring by experienced staff and bid-writing support • Systematic promotion of international funding opportunities Overall no significant increase in international research funding due to the world-wide major economic recession but increased international research collaborations, increased international institutional-level relationships and some good learnings for the University

23. General success factors: • Leadership, corporate approach and clarity of message • Relationship building – funders/agencies/university partners/networks • Academic buy-in – recruitment, reward, recognition, mutual interest, knowledge and understanding, support, bottom up/top-down balance • Monitoring and analysis, data and communication • Infrastructure, Mechanisms and Resource – people, process and funding • Managing and embracing risk - New ways of thinking – overseas campuses, new technologies, virtual centres, open access, MOOCs, global professors, federated networks, institutional mergers and national thematic alliances for international collaboration, triple helix alliances, science diplomacy

24. Contacts Karen Crawshaw Johansen – k.c.johansen@admin.uio.no Elisa Lawson – Elisa.Lawson@ncl.ac.uk Lynette Read – l.read@auckland.ac.nz