BMBF Project: Q-KNOW – Leibniz Center for Science and Society

How does the quality of science develop through collaborations? The collaborative project Q-KNOW seeks answers to that question. Focusing on co-authored papers by scientists in different organizations, we investigate in a mixed-methods-design how scientific publication patterns developed according to the proportion and impact of interorganizational collaborative networks, depending on the collaboration portfolios among organizations in Germany and how these patterns are leveraged to enhance scientific quality at organizational level.

Project Period:	1st June 2019 - 30th June 2022
Project Lead:	Prof. Dr. Anna Kosmützky
Project Team Leibniz Universität Hannover	Prof. Dr. Anna Kosmützky Sarah-Rebecca Kienast, MA Joelle Wirtz, B.A. Lena Schroeder, B.A.
Project Team University of Luxembourg	Prof. Dr. Justin W. Powell Dr. Jennifer Dusdal Jutta Emilia Koskinen, MA
Project Team Universität Mannheim	Prof. Dr. Achim Oberg Olaf Kellermeier Pavel Dimitrov Chachev, M.A. Sarah-Rebecca Kienast, M.A.

A brief overview of the project

Question: How does the quality of science develop through research collaborations?

Method: Mixed-Methods-Design

1. A bibliometric longitudinal analysis of the co-publications of German organizations producing scientific knowledge in the global and European context for the years 1900-2020 (INES).

2. An analysis of the inter-organizational cooperation networks of all German organizations and their cooperation portfolios (ifm)

3. A qualitative analysis of the organizational conditions and possibilities for the advancement of cooperation portfolios (LCSS).

Goal: Recommendations for quality development through cooperation networks and cooperation portfolios at different levels (politics and universities) (ifm, INES, LCSS)

THE LCSS PROJECT

The subproject that is carried out at the LCSS analyses the organizational conditions and discipline-specific understandings of quality of selected collaboration portfolios. In the first step, document-based organizational profiles of organizational development, the governance (self-administration and external control), the cultural orientation, and the disciplinary profile and thematic foci of each organization will be created. In the second step, organizational facilitating conditions of collaborations and discipline-specific understandings of quality will be gathered through interviews. This activity will enable the systematic comparison of the cases and provides the foundation for an encompassing assessment of the potential for developing “relational quality” through collaborations – as well as the corresponding recommendations.

NEWS

Q-KNOW Project Workshop 2020: How does the quality of science develop through research collaborations? During this inaugural Q-KNOW project workshop (24/25 September 2020), which was organized virtually by the Luxembourg team, participants with different roles and functions in science, research, and administration discussed innovative funding mechanisms to support researchers in developing their collaborations across boundaries. Participants discussed the importance of organizational support and characteristics of contemporary international and interdisciplinary research collaborations, leading to further questions to be addressed in the Q-KNOW project on relational quality. A summary of the workshop (in German) can be downloaded here
Paper Presentation Sunbelt 2020, Monday, 13. July: "Developing Relational Quality trough International Collaborative Networks in the German Higher Education and Science System"
Project presentation, 5th & 6th December 2019: Kick-Off-Event of the BMBF-funding
line „Developing Quality in Science“ at the University of Applied Sciences Dresden