RAPID International Type I: Assessing Adaptive Responses During COVID-19 Research Collaboration: A Study of Collaborative Contexts

第1部分。该项目将通过确定COVID-19对国际研究和教育合作影响的性质和范围，改善美国的国家研究体系，促进科学进步。主要目标是了解新的信息和通信技术（信通技术）对大流行病条件下联网和协作进程的影响，以及对这些条件的适应。这种评估使我们能够调查协作互动中断的原因和条件，并从参与者确定的成功实践中推荐最佳实践。研究人员将分析定性和定量访谈，以便：(1)确定每位科学家的主要合作伙伴和合作者，包括本地和国际；(2)检查大流行前对旅行、面对面会议和远程协作软件的使用情况，以及与它们在各国的相对重要性相关的因素；(3)列举2019冠状病毒病对这些合作产生的影响类型；(4)评估技术和科学实践对中断准备的影响程度；(5)制定适应性反应的类型；(6)分析参与者对这些应对措施对合作进展和成果的相对有效性的看法(7)检查男女科学家在大流行期间的不同经历以及不同应对措施的程度。将广泛分发项目访谈和分析报告，以便为决策者和其他寻求了解大流行病情况对知识生产的影响的人提供有根据的指导。第2部分。这个项目将对四个国家的科学家群体进行系统的比较。将从个别科学家那里收集有关协作做法的数据，而分析将使人们深入了解大流行病协作和适应性做法的性质和过程。国际合作和美国科学家将与加纳、肯尼亚和印度的科学家进行比较。自1994年以来，对这些领域的科学和工程社区的先前研究一直在进行，为比较评估国际合作的中断和评估应对措施提供了宝贵的基线。该项目将对1100名研究人员进行定性和定量访谈。研究人群包括从事涉及环境、自然资源管理和可持续性的国际合作的科学家。两个主要的研究部门是大学和国家研究机构。我们的科学家和教育工作者来自巴吞鲁日、内罗毕、阿克拉和特里凡得琅及其周围的一些组织。这些地点代表了科学和教育发展水平的多样性，美国社区可以说处于国际科学的顶峰，其次是喀拉拉邦，代表了相对较高的发展水平，肯尼亚处于中等水平，加纳相对较低。该项目的结果将有助于理解国际合作中适应性反应的多样性，并为寻求理解这些差异并设计有效干预措施的政策制定者和管理人员提供指导。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Part 1.This project will improve the U.S. national research system and promote scientific progress by identifying the nature and scope of COVID-19 impacts on international collaboration in research and education. The principal objective is to understand the impact of new information and communications technology (ICT) on the process of networking and collaboration under pandemic conditions, as well as adaptations to these conditions. This assessment allows us to investigate the causes and conditions under which collaborative interactions become disrupted as well as recommend best practices from among those identified as successful by participants. The researchers will analyze both qualitative and quantitative interviews in order to (1) identify principal collaborations and collaborators of each scientist, both local and international; (2) examine the pre-pandemic use of travel, face-to-face meetings, and remote collaborative software, as well as the factors associated with their relative importance across countries; (3) enumerate the types of impacts that COVID-19 had on these collaborations; (4) assess the degree to which technology and scientific practice affected preparedness for disruptions (5) develop a typology of adaptive responses; (6) analyze participant perceptions of the relative effectiveness of these responses on the progress and outcomes of collaboration (7) examine the degree to which men and women scientists had different experiences during the pandemic as well as different responses. Project interviews and analysis are to be widely distributed to provide grounded guidance for policy makers and others seeking to understand the impacts of pandemic conditions on the production of knowledge. Part 2.This project will provide systematic comparisons among a population of scientists across four countries. Data on collaborative practices will be collected from individual scientists, while analysis will yield insight into the nature and process of pandemic collaboration and adaptive practice. International collaborations and U.S. scientists will be compared with scientists in Ghana, Kenya, and India. Previous studies of scientific and engineering communities in these areas have been ongoing since 1994, providing a valuable baseline for comparative assessments of disruptions to international collaboration and the assessment of responses. The project will utilize a combination of qualitative and quantitative interviews with 1100 researchers. The study population includes scientists that engage in international collaborations involving the environment, natural resource management, and sustainability. The two primary research sectors are universities and national research institutes. Our population of scientists and educators is drawn from a group of organizations in and around Baton Rouge, Nairobi, Accra, and Trivandrum. The locations represent diversity in levels of scientific and educational development, with the U.S. community arguably at the summit of international science, followed by Kerala, representing a relatively high level of development, Kenya a medium level, with Ghana comparatively lower. The results of this project will contribute to an understanding of the diversity of adaptive responses among international collaborations and provide guidance for policy makers and managers seeking to understand these differences and design effective interventions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.