Ties that Bind International Research Teams: A Network Multilevel Model of Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Abstract

Today large research projects require substantial involvement of researchers from different organizations, disciplines, or cultures working in groups or teams to accomplish a common goal of producing, sharing, and disseminating scientific knowledge. This study focuses on the international research team that was launched in response to pressing calls for internationalization. This study seeks to understand the social structure of the international research team and perceptions of team members on this structure by challenging social networks and social capital fields. By bridging social networks with social capital, the study examines social structures at the individual, subgroup, and team levels and adds complexity to different levels of analysis by stressing context through qualitative research methods. The results imply that hierarchical relations do not stand separately from the horizontal relations among team members in the international research team. Therefore, the construct of group social capital should be based on a multilevel model of combined moderate closure with horizontal bridging roles in international research teams.