Geopolitics and Academic Agency: The Changing Strategies of Chinese STEM Research Collaboration
- Dr Wen Wen, Tsinghua University
In recent years, escalating geopolitical tensions and the rise of neo-nationalism have posed significant obstacles to international research collaboration between China and the West (Marginson, 2022a; Rizvi, 2022). As China’s advancements in science and technology are increasingly perceived as a strategic threat, newly coined and redefined concepts—such as knowledge security, trusted research, containment, and foreign interference in research and innovation—have become prevalent in Western policy discourse (European Commission, 2019; White House, 2025; Shih et al., 2025). The challenges are particularly pronounced in STEM disciplines, where barriers to cooperation are significantly higher than in the humanities and social sciences. Shifting geopolitical dynamics, coupled with the emergence of state-driven research policies such as “organized science,” have inevitably prompted Chinese STEM scientists to modify their collaboration partners, research focus, modes of cooperation, and strategic approaches. This study investigates how Chinese STEM scientists navigate geopolitical challenges in their international scientific collaborations. Specifically, it addresses the following research questions: How do geopolitical influences affect Chinese scientists’ international research collaborations? What strategies have Chinese universities and scientists adopted to mitigate geopolitical constraints? What resources, cultural factors, and organizational conditions are necessary to facilitate these strategies?
Booking
Event Notes
Please find the General Privacy Policy of UCL, one of our partner universities, here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/legal-services/privacy/general-privacy-notice
Share this event
Dr Wen Wen is currently a professor in higher education at Tsinghua University’s Institute of Education and Vice Dean in charge of research and international affairs. Her latest research examines higher education internationalization, sociology of higher education, comparative and international higher education. Dr. Wen received her Dphil from the Department of Education at Oxford. She participated as a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University and a Visiting Scholar in the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College.
