International collaboration, mobility and team diversity in the life sciences: impact on research performance

Abstract

The combination of knowledge and skills from different backgrounds or research cultures is often considered good for science. This paper describes the extent to which academic research teams in the life sciences draw on knowledge from different research cultures and how this is related to their research performance. We distinguish between international collaboration between research teams and international mobility leading to team diversity, where scientists with a background in another country work as members of a team over time. Our results show that the most successful teams both have a moderate level of team diversity and engage in collaboration activities resulting in joint publications with scientists in other countries. These results have implications for research team management and for research policy, in particular in relation to the mobility of scientists.

Does “birds of a feather flock together” matter—Evidence from a longitudinal study on US–China scientific collaboration

“…This study has found new evidence that supports the positive impact on research quality of international collaboration, particularly collaboration with the best performer (the US). The regression results also support the age-old idiom "birds of a feather flock together" argument that that elite scientists from different countries who possess similar high levels of research tend to congregate and collaborate with each other at an international level (Barjak & Robinson, 2007). Yet the interaction terms provide some but not strong support on accumulative learning either through the conduit of "event" (US-China collaboration) or "people" (CKMs and scientists in prestigious research institutes).…”

“…Another recent study led by Abramo, D'Angelo, and Solazzi (2011) demonstrated the positive relationship between the degree of international collaboration and the quantity and quality of Italian university researchers. Notable studies reporting similar findings also include Persson, Glanzel, and Danell (2004), Barjak and Robinson (2007), He, Geng, and Campbell-Hunt (2009) and Abbasia, Altmannb, and Hossaina (2011).…”

“…It is generally accepted that internationally collaborative papers appear in better journals and are cited more often than local research (Arunachalam, Srinivasan, & Raman, 1994;Barjak & Robinson, 2007;Hu et al, 2012), yet it remains unclear whether this phenomenon is due to the self-selection of researchers or the nature of collaboration types themselves. The deficiency of prior literature on this topic has different policy implications.…”

The Impact of Cultural Diversity on the Academic Performance: A Study on Turkish Universities

“…Lillis & Curry (2006) have indicated that academicians living in non-Enlish speaking countries work with foreigners who are good at English skills. Barjak & Robinson (2008) have found that academic research teams at the middle level cultural diversity are more successful. Looking at 16 sections of three universities in Denmark, Lauring and Selmer (2010) found that cultural diversity has a positive influence on satisfaction and performance.…”

“…Due to the heterogeneity and internationalization of the universities, academicians wtih different research culture can join to these universities. When it is considered that academicians have limited sources and capacities and have the ability to improve their capacity by contacting other researchers (Abbasi&Jaafari,2013) it will be beneficial to have foreign academicians in this network (Barjak & Robinson, 2008). Thus, there is a need for collaboration between academicians in the extraction of new information (Demsetz, 1991).…”