Collaborative Research with Research

Agencies

Manjunatha Shettigara M
Professor, Dept. of Professional Studies
Christ University, Bangalore

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individuals holistic development to make effective Love of Fellow Beings | Social
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What is Collaborative Research?

Collaborative research is any research project that is carried

out by at least two people. Collaborative research happens in
many ways, and is more common in some fields than others.

As of now, in India it is very common in the Sciences, and

less so in Social Sciences and Humanities.

But, it appears future of research lies in collaborative

research across disciplines, both in Sciences, and in Social
Sciences and Humanities.
.
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What is Collaborative Research?

Often, researchers will choose to collaborate when a project is large or
involved, or to pool their areas of expertise.

For example, lets imagine that two researchers are interested in a similar
research topic. One researcher is an expert in statistical methods, and the other
has collected a lot of data from a field experiment. If they collaborate, the
researchers can combine their strengths and do sophisticated statistical
analyses of the data from the field experiments.

Usually the goal of collaborative research is to publish the results, and the
researchers will divide up the work of research process, writing up the results
and navigating the publication process.

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What is Collaborative Research?

When done in the right spirit, collaborative research can
result in more reliable and better quality research works than
they would if the research were done independently.

It may be the only way large scale research works and more
technical projects can be carried out.

Researchers can pool their knowledge and critique each

others work before starting the publication process.

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What are the Institutions & Opportunities?

Institutions can be Local, National or International

Collaborative research can be based on inter-personal or
inter-institutional arrangements -
The scope of collaborative research can cover:
Sharing of institutional resources in the form of library
resources, access to database platforms, sharing of unique
resources such as specialized expertise, expensive statistical
software, joint preparation and execution of research proposals,
joining/ co-opting researchers from other institutions on a new/
ongoing project and so on.

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Local Institutions
PG and Research Departments of Public and Private
Universities Commerce, Management and Economics
Tier 1 and Tier 2 Management institutes such as IIMB,
XIME, IFIM and so on
Social Science Research Institutions such as ISEC,
Bangalore
Institutions of National importance such as Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore (Department of
Management Studies), Indian Statistical Institute,
Bangalore, and so on.

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National & International Institutions

Research institutions based outside Bangalore

- Within India and outside India

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Collaborative Research

- Can be based on institutional collaboration, or based on

personal/professional network of contacts

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Different types of Collaborative Research

Collaborative research
- Same discipline research
- Multidisciplinary research where research
crosses boundaries of disciplines

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Why Collaboration?

Bring together different

perspectives and skills
Promotes productivity
Higher impact factors for
publications/more
publications
More innovative research
proposals/ grant
applications
Higher credibility and
acceptability of research
results/ output

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Bottom lines for effective collaborations

Communication from beginning to end
Establish individual roles and expectations at the onset
Agreeing on the timeframe and the milestones to stick to
Discuss authorship at the onset
Discuss intellectual property issues at the onset
Establish who is in charge and who will be the
responsible agent Principal investigator and Joint
Investigator

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Core Issues of Collaborations

What are the scientific issues, goals, and anticipated outcomes?
When is the project over?
Do all members of the research team agree on these issues?
What are the expected contributions of each participant?
Who will write any progress reports and final reports?
How will you decide about redirecting the research agenda?
How will you ensure that all appropriate members are kept fully informed?
How will you negotiate the development of new collaborations or projects?
How and by whom will personnel be supervised?
What will be the criteria and the process for assigning authorship and credit?
How will credit be attributed to each collaborator's institution for public
presentations, abstracts, and written articles?
How and by whom will public presentations be made?
How and by whom will data be managed? How will access to data be
managed? How will you handle long-term storage and access to data after the
project is complete?
Should one of the principals of the research team move to another institution or
leave the project, how will you handle, data, specimens, lab books, and
authorship and credit?
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Collaborations are a lot like personal

relationships

... They might last 1 or 2 dates

... They might last for decades

... They might end in divorce

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People Issues in Research Collaborations

Are the researchers well suited for the collaboration?
Do participants have appropriate experience and training?
Do the participants have a proven track record of
accomplishments?
Does the collaboration bring together individuals with
complementary and integrated expertise?
Are the different leadership styles of participants
compatible?
How will reviewers view my role in resulting publications?
How does my intended collaborator view my qualifications?

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Thank you !

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