Conference

Government Policies and Scientific Collaboration symposium

Date: Thursday 8 May 2025 - Friday 9 May 2025
Location: Gorlaeus Building
Einsteinweg 55
2333 CC Leiden

This symposium explores the transformative impact of scientific mobility policies on scientific collaboration networks and the flow of knowledge. Using cutting-edge techniques in network science and machine learning, we aim to uncover how these initiatives shape global research dynamics and influence long-term scientific development. Many countries, specifically developing nations, often face significant hurdles in enhancing their scientific output, including brain drain and budget limitations. In response, several countries—such as China, India, Indonesia, and Brazil—have introduced scientific mobility policies to provide researchers with international exposure and improve scientific outcomes.

Examples include:

China Scholarship Council: Funding for PhD programs and short-term visits to foreign institutes.
Indonesian Government Programs: Sponsorships for PhD students to study abroad and return to their home country.
India’s SPARC Fellowship: Initiatives fostering foreign collaborations and bilateral exchanges.
Brazil’s visiting researcher program

This symposium brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss the effectiveness of these initiatives, their impact on knowledge exchange, and the challenges in ensuring equitable scientific progress. Through interdisciplinary dialogue and empirical analyses, we seek to identify best practices and develop strategies to optimize scientific mobility for sustainable global research development.