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Reconciling Tensions between Excellence, Access and Equity in Multilateral R&D Partnerships: A Canadian Collaborators’ Perspective

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Abstract

Universities traverse epistemic, sectoral and geopolitical boundaries with increasing frequency, but along the way encounter challenges in mitigating unequal capacities, soaring costs and proprietary concerns. The bridging of disparate stakeholder interests requires an enormous effort, as research policies, institutional norms and organizational cultures in global science often remain irreconcilable. In seeking to identify strategic leverages for optimal balance in cross-border partnerships, this paper considers the case study of the Structural Genomics Consortium, which represents a synergy of resources, interests and commitments by research universities, governments and industries in Canada, Sweden and the UK. By triangulating data derived from content analysis of institutional materials, interviews and participant observations in Toronto, the study zeros in on the Canadian equilibration of symbolic, cultural and organizational forces aimed at securing long-term stakeholder support across institutional, sectoral and geopolitical domains.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks the editor of this journal and two anonymous reviewers for providing constructive advice on refining some analytical perspectives. All shortcomings, however, should be attributed to this author only.

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  1. Division of Policy, Administration and Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, SAR, Hong Kong

    Anatoly Oleksiyenko

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Oleksiyenko, A. Reconciling Tensions between Excellence, Access and Equity in Multilateral R&D Partnerships: A Canadian Collaborators’ Perspective. High Educ Policy 28, 197–214 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2014.5

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