ABSTRACT

Students currently in doctoral programs worldwide have, in general, grown up with a global perspective on their lives and careers. Ease of communication and travel have opened the world to them in ways that they simply take for granted. As a group, they have a kind of global citizenship that bodes well for expanding international research collaborations. At the same time, of course, they are still newcomers to the scientific community, in need of training and socialization if they are to take their places as full-fledged researchers. Their experiences are shaped by the systems of doctoral education, both formal and informal, in their own countries. Some aspects of these systems are virtually universal; others are distinctive features that differ by national, regional or historical context. How do these distinctive features of national systems of doctoral education affect international research collaborations-those in which doctoral students participate as students and those they will join later as mature researchers? This question is addressed here by doctoral students (and one postdoctoral fellow) from seven different countries. Their task is two-fold: to describe some of the distinctive characteristics of doctoral education in their home country, and to consider how these features might influence cross-national research collaborations involving doctoral students from that country or scientists who likewise were trained under that system. For example, international research collaborations are likely to be affected by differences such as group (Japan) versus individual (Poland) orientation to work and achievement; ample resources and up-to-date facilities (China) versus a significantly challenged research infrastructure (Congo); research training largely independent of course structures (Kazakhstan) versus structured curricula offered by departments within graduate schools (United States); and federally mandated training in the responsible conduct of research (United States) versus little attention to research ethics in graduate programs (Brazil).