Internationalising humanities and social sciences in China: tensions, implications and collaboration with UK

在英国脱欧时代，中国已成为英国高等教育的重要潜在合作伙伴。目前，中英研究合作呈增加趋势，但大多集中在科技领域，而不是人文社会科学领域。HSS在促进我们社会的繁荣、安全和福祉方面发挥着重要作用(ESRC执行主席Jennifer Rubin教授在《英国研究与创新与社会科学的未来》中强调了这一点)。HSS研究在很大程度上与文化有关，并以国家或地区为重点，因此有别于科学和技术。因此，在将HSS研究国际化和评估方面，以及在发展对中国和英国都有利的中英合作方面，都存在挑战。政府、大学、学者和相关机构之间正在展开辩论。尽管如此，还缺乏解决这些问题的文献或倡议。我的博士研究发现，在中国，政府和大学正试图将高等教育中的HSS国际化。与中国先生迅速发展的科学技术学科相比，HSS研究在全球学术界的知名度和影响力都较低。为了响应中央政府关于HSS国际化的号召，大多数中国大学都在提供经济奖励和/或与职业相关的福利，以此作为激励HSS学者在国际索引期刊上发表文章的手段。这些激励措施往往会导致博士研究中讨论的几个冲突：例如，关于HSS知识的国际化和本地化，英语语言的使用和母语的使用，以及大学的机构议程和个人的学术自由。基于我的博士研究，拟议的研究旨在促进关于HSS的角色、特征和贡献的学术和理论辩论，对国家和机构政策制定，对学术和非学术实践，以及关于HSS国际化和评估的公众讨论。我将进行一项文献计量学研究，提供对HSS产出的国内外比较视角，撰写三篇来自博士和延伸研究的同行评议期刊文章，在学术会议和研讨会上发表研究成果，并对香港大学教育学院进行研究访问。更广泛地说，我将与两个组织合作：代表英国136所大学的英国大学国际大学组织和服务于科学和研究领域需求的国际科技公司Digital Science。我会与他们合作，制作简报和报告，介绍HSS国际化和评估的做法；与政府和大学代表一起参加研讨会；以及举办研讨会，促进中英HSS在高等教育方面的合作。ESRC博士后奖学金是一个极好的机会，可以巩固我的博士研究，并通过不同的途径影响更广泛的社区。作为一名早期职业学者，这对我的职业发展至关重要。该奖学金将为我的学术生涯的下一阶段做好准备，有机会出版中英文出版物，发展新的研究和教学技能，提出拨款建议，扩大网络，与非学术社区合作，并进行进一步的研究，在我的博士研究和未来的项目之间架起桥梁。

In the Brexit era, China has become an important potential partner for UK higher education. Currently, there is an increasing trend of Sino-British research collaborations; however, most of them are in science and technology fields, rather than in humanities and social sciences (HSS). HSS play an important role in contributing to the prosperity, security, and wellbeing of our society (as highlighted by Professor Jennifer Rubin, ESRC Executive Chair in 'UK Research and Innovation and the future of the social sciences'). HSS research is largely culture- bound with a national or regional focus, thus differentiating itself from science and technology. Therefore, there are challenges in internationalising and evaluating HSS research, as well as in developing Sino-British collaborations that can benefit both China and the UK. Debates are arising among governments, universities, academics, and relevant agencies. Nonetheless, there is a lack of literature or initiatives addressing those questions.My doctoral research found that in China the government and universities are attempting to internationalise the HSS in higher education. As compared to the rapidly growing science and technology disciplines in China, the HSS research is less visible and influential in global academia. In response to the central government's call to internationalise HSS, most Chinese universities are offering financial rewards and/or career-related benefits, as means to incentivise HSS academics to publish in internationally-indexed journals. Such incentives tend to generate several conflicts discussed in the doctoral research: for example, in relation to the internationalisation versus localisation of HSS knowledge, the use of English language versus mother tongue language, and universities' institutional agendas versus individuals' academic freedom.Building on my doctoral research, the proposed research aims to contribute to scholarly and theoretical debates about the role, character and contribution of HSS, to national and institutional policymaking, to academic and non-academic practices, and to public discussions on the internationalisation and evaluation of HSS.I will conduct a bibliometric study that offers a comparative perspective of HSS outputs within and outside China, develop three peer-reviewed journal articles from the doctoral and extend studies, present research findings at academic conference and seminars, and conduct a research visit to the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong. More broadly, I will collaborate with two organisations: Universities UK International, the representative organisation for 136 UK universities, and Digital Science, an international technology company serving the needs of scientific and research communities. In partnership with them, I will develop briefings and reports to inform the practices of internationalising and evaluating HSS; participate in the workshop with government and universities' representatives; and organise a symposium to facilitate Sino-British HSS collaborations in higher education.The ESRC postdoctoral fellowship is an excellent opportunity to consolidate my doctoral research and generate impacts on the wider communities through various pathways. It is essential to my career development as an early career academic. The fellowship will prepare me for the next stage of my academic career, with opportunities to produce publications both in English and Chinese, develop new sets of research and teaching skills, produce grant proposals, expand networks, collaborate with non-academic communities, and conduct further research to bridge between my doctoral studies and future projects.