Best Practices in Global Research Collaboration

This workshop is for researchers and staff at universities, NGO’s and government organizations that have ambitious strategic plans that aim to harness institutional resources to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. The forum is intended to provide an opportunity for researchers and staff to share best practices, and lesson learned, in all aspects of global collaboration. 

To give you a clear idea of what we are expecting for presentations, we have included suggested topics below for your consideration.

Theme 1 – Building Organizational Capacity

• Developing a cohesive, and realistic strategy to promote international collaborations and research partnerships
• Developing a university vision for international programs
• Making international partnerships one of the core activities of the organization
• Building trust in international collaboration in scientific research.
• Breaking down administrative “silos” that separate the international office from research administration
• Fostering institutional cohesion and finding common and general understanding of internationalisation
• Working with deans as they balance their academic needs with the needs at an international level
• Leveraging existing transdisciplinary research centers
• Building a strong research administrative support system that understands international work 
• Developing an institution that can be flexible and agile when addressing international collaboration
• Sharing of best practices in international research collaboration administration at the institutional level
• Finding ways to thrive with limited number of staff while making good on the internationalisation mandate
• Providing professional development on international research collaborations for research administration staff
• Appreciating the distinct cultures and success metrics of various academic disciplines across the institution
• Streamlining the international research collaboration process
• Establishing procedures and best practices for establishing partnerships
• Defining, tracking, and assessing mutual, institutional benefit of international research collaboration
• Assessing impact of international research collaboration using bibliometric data analyses
• Identifying and training future leaders in international academic and research partnerships

Theme 2 – Supporting Faculty/Researchers

• Supporting entrepreneurial faculty
• Identifying faculty and staff who can contribute, participate, and lead
• Inspiring faculty to move beyond smaller scale collaborations
• Providing faculty with freedom to engage in international collaboration
• Leveraging faculty enthusiasm to find quality partnerships that enhance their careers and improve the global recognition and standing of their group
• Leading and coordinating efforts to support faculty
• Addressing faculty issues that prevent or restrict their willingness to engage
• Providing seed funding, support, and mentoring to faculty to get started doing international work. 
• Fostering international collaboration as a pathway for better scholarship that can have a more significant impact on global challenges and opportunities.
• Developing a Global Fellows program for junior faculty to introduce them to international research

Theme 3 – Securing Funding

• Finding or establishing seed funding for data gathering, proof-of-concept work, and the groundwork needed for international collaboration and successful research proposals
• Dealing with a rapidly changing research funding landscape (e.g. changes in international development funding
• Connecting with colleagues in different regions to target wider funding opportunities
• Best practices for solid proposal writing, budgeting, and creating budget narratives

Theme 4 – Forming Partnerships

• Reducing the time taken to develop and nurture the partnership
• Best practices in the approach taken to international agreements
• Leveraging international alumni to create global networks
• Leveraging your reputation for research and brand recognition when finding partners
• Identifying partners that can bring complementary capabilities and opportunities
• Finding bandwidth to establish international research agreements
• Understanding the cross-cultural aspects in negotiations
• Finding ways to provide support for a robust engagement with African partners
• Engaging multi-national corporate partners in international research collaborations

Theme 5 – Managing Partnerships

• Refining the communication process with potential partners to ensure adherence to procedures and regulations until an agreement is signed 
• Improving relationship management and understanding the mechanics of partnership management
• How to lead an international project without direct experience as a co-PI on a large, funded project with a significant international co-authorship
• Developing and maintaining longer term mutually beneficial partnerships
• Streamlining the maintenance of international relationships and programs
• Accelerating the time taken to see the benefits from an international collaboration

Theme 6 – Addressing Compliance Issues

• How to address compliance issues (i.e., federal rules and regulations)
• Fostering an understanding of wider regulatory requirements related to the development of full partnership
• Dealing with government departments that assist with compliance for most immigration processes
• Navigating compliance regulations and other rules to minimize “roadblocks” when developing proposals.

Theme 7 – UN SDG’s – Challenges and Opportunities

Any topics involving International collaboration aimed at the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

What are we looking for?

Our aim for this workshop is to hear from researchers and staff who have experience in any of the topic areas above.  We want presentations that speak to successes or failures, with an emphasis on best practices and lessons learned.   Items for Theme 7 – UN Sustainable Development Goals, can be focused on the specific challenges if a project has not yet been undertaken. In any event, please also ensure there are clear take-aways for the audience (e.g., overview of the problem/challenge/case, best practices, lessons learned, a model, a template, steps, principles, etc.). Note that we welcome presenters of all ethnicities, genders, ages, abilities, religions, and sexual orientations .  

How to submit

Proposals should include the following items:

1. Theme and Session Title
2. Session Description (less than 250 words)
3. Format (individual presentation, small-group presentation, panel discussion or workshop)
4. Session Length (30, 45 or 60 minutes).
5. Speaker(s) Name(s), Title(s), Institution(s), email address(es)
6. Presenter bio(s) (less than 150 words)


The submission can be emailed to Leroy Lowe, Executive Director at leroy.lowe@halifaxinstitute.org

The DEADLINE for submissions has now passed but please send us your submission anyway if you would like to be considered as a backup presenter (in case an accepted presenter is unable to attend or present)

Selection criteria

Submitted proposals will be selected based on

• Relevance to the workshop theme and chosen stream; 
• Relevance and appeal to the intended conference audience; 
• Clarity and completeness of the proposal (what will you be presenting and how); 
• The degree to which the presentation highlights relevant experience, best practices and lessons learned; 
• Newness and uniqueness of the topic and information; 
• The degree to which the presentation is engaging and participatory; 
• Key takeaways for the audience; what will you provide them with to add to their own practice (models, templates that can be implemented etc.).   

Please ensure that your proposal, biography, and session description are all clear, complete, and correct. Incomplete submissions may be returned for revision or not reviewed.

Important notes

• You will be notified the week of January 30, 2023 if your proposal is accepted.
• All presenters who are selected must register and pay the workshop fee ($399 USD + 15% HST) by April 1, 2023 to retain their presenter status
• You agree that your presentation slides will be provided to the conference organizers in .pdf format. 
• You agree that your session may be recorded and made available to conference registrants after the conference. 
• When submitting your proposal, please submit presenter biographies and session descriptions as you would like them to appear in the conference agenda and on the conference website.

Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

Best Practices in Global Research Collaboration

29-30 May, 2023, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada