This project seeks to shed light on China’s engagement in European research, innovation, and higher education, a critical endeavor in view of how China’s presence in European research has been burgeoning and yet remains largely under-researched in its complexity. To tackle this existing knowledge gap, this project aims to undertake a scoping study to map the field and prepare the ground for more in-depth work that provides an overview of China’s involvement in Europe’s higher education and science, technology, and innovation (STI). Both qualitative and quantitative approaches will be undertaken to examine different forms and patterns of Chinese involvement, its nuances, how and why they are emerging, and what China’s strategies and priorities are when approaching different EU member states as well as the EU itself.
This collaborative project will lead to a proposal with a goal of uncovering the state of play of Chinese involvement in European research, innovation, and higher education in Europe: main actors, channels, priorities, challenges, funding. As such, the project will uncover possible data sources, identify suitable methods, and most importantly formulate an analytical framework under which a future study would be developed. The result will be a policy brief and a proposal for future work, with the end goal of a thorough analysis at the individual, organizational, national, and EU levels.
