Cooperation potential
This chapter deals with the question of the extent to which there is potential in the Berlin research area to intensify cooperative relationships. We explored this potential from the perspective of the scientists themselves and therefore asked them about their desire for additional cooperation (Section 6.1). In a second step, we analysed this potential in more detail by looking at bivariate correlations between the desire for additional collaborations and other aspects. We investigated the extent to which the current level of collaboration, the experiences in previous collaborations, the perceived pressure of expectations regarding interdisciplinarity, and the type of existing collaborations were related to the desire for further collaborations. Finally, we used a multivariate model to examine the factors influencing the desire for collaboration.
Desire for additional cooperation
The potential for collaboration can be inferred from the question of whether respondents would like to collaborate more, collaborate less, or leave their collaborative relationships as they are. In the Berlin Science Survey, just under 48% indicated that they would like to cooperate more, while the remaining 52% of respondents were satisfied with their level of cooperation (50.3%) or would even prefer to cooperate less (1.6%, not shown).
The potential for increasing collaboration appeared considerable. In order to be able to exploit this potential, it was necessary to have more in-depth knowledge about which scientists and in which research contexts these wishes for cooperation existed.
The desire for cooperation was therefore examined separately according to status groups (see Figure 32). This shows that the wish for additional cooperation decreased with increasing status, as 59% of predocs, 46% of postdocs, and only 28% of professors indicated a desire for further collaboration (see Figure 32). Given that the level of cooperation among professors was significantly higher than among predocs (see Figure 2), this is quite understandable.
Figure 32 Desire for cooperation by status groups
A comparison of the subject groups shows that the desire for additional cooperation was somewhat stronger in the humanities and life sciences than in the other subject groups (see Figure 33). Here, more than half of the scientists wished to cooperate more. Natural scientists were the least likely to report a desire for additional cooperation, with only 38% of respondents reporting such a wish.
Gender differences could also be identified. According to Figure 34, there was greater potential for expanding cooperation among women. More than 54% of women wished to cooperate more, compared to just under 43% of their male colleagues (see Figure 34).
Figure 33 Desire for cooperation by subject groups
Figure 34 Desire for cooperation by gender
It is not only interesting to note who would like to cooperate more, but also with whom. This is relevant for research organizations with the aim of establishing support structures. Furthermore, it is important to ask the question in which areas an expansion of cooperative relationships can be expected based on the research interests of the scientists. As a first approach to this question, we differentiated the cooperation wishes into three regional areas: cooperation in the Berlin research area, national collaborations, and international collaborations. In each case, we asked whether there was a desire to strengthen, reduce, or leave the number of collaborative relationships in the respective region as they were. Figure 35 shows that there was a desire to expand collaborations in all three regions, although the interest in expanding international collaborations was the strongest.
The comparison of status groups (Figure 36) again showed that professors perceived less need to expand their collaborations than postdocs and predocs (Figure 32). Furthermore, it was evident that professors in particular had already reached a high level of saturation with regard to collaborations in Germany, so the desire for more collaborations in the Berlin research area and internationally was stronger. Among postdocs and predocs, the desire to collaborate internationally also dominated slightly, although in both status groups, about half also wanted to expand collaborations in the other regions.
In a comparison of subjects (Figure 37), it was noticeable that among humanities scientists, the desire to cooperate (even more) with foreign countries was greatest, at 68%. This is interesting in light of the fact that the humanities are the subject group that already has more international collaborations than the other disciplines (Figure 11). There were no differences between respondents from universities (BUA) and non-university research institutions (BR50) in the Berlin research area in terms of their desire for cooperation by region (see Figure 38).
Figure 35 Desire for cooperation with partners from different regions
Figure 36 Desire for cooperation with partners from different regions, by status groups
Figure 37 Desire for cooperation with partners from different regions, by subject groups
Figure 38 Desire for cooperation with partners from different regions, by organizational forms
The Relationship between cooperation level and cooperation desire
The desire for additional cooperation may also be related to the level of collaboration that already exists. As described above (Section 5.1), professors had a lower desire to increase their collaborations than postdocs and predocs, and at the same time they already collaborated more (Figure 2). Figure 39 illustrates the relationship between the existing level of collaboration and the desire for collaboration. Thus, far more respondents who conduct research exclusively on their own indicated a desire for (more) cooperation (73.5%). By contrast, only 34.5% of those who conduct research exclusively with others indicated a desire for additional cooperation (see Figure 39). Thus, the desire to increase the amount of cooperation depends strongly on the existing level of cooperation.
Figure 39 Desire for cooperation by level of research cooperation
The relationship between cooperation experience and the desire to cooperate
Another possible factor influencing the desire to cooperate could be previous cooperation experience. It can be assumed that previous positive experience has a positive influence on the desire to collaborate. However, contrary to this assumption, those who had rather negative experiences in previous collaborations also wished to expand their collaboration activities. Figures 40 and 41 depict this relationsip with regard to the central quality indicators for cooperation.
Figure 40 Desire for cooperation by cooperation experience (fulfilment of project goals)
Figure 41 Desire for cooperation by cooperation experiences (fulfilment of own goals)
The relationship between pressure from expectations and desire to collaborate
Does a high level of expectation and the subsequent pressure it causes lead to scientists being more inclined to cooperate? We approached the answer to this question by resorting to the item “expectation pressure to cooperate interdisciplinarily”. Although this item does not capture all facets of pressure caused by high expectation levels for cooperation, it serves as a first indication of a possible relationship between expectation pressure regarding cooperation and the desire to cooperate. In the bivariate representation (see Figure 42), however, the expected relation could not be confirmed: compared to those with low levels of pressure, a higher share of those who experienced high or very high expectation pressure had no desire for additional collaborations. Figure 43 provides a good explanation for this: those who feel pressure as a result of high expectation levels already cooperate more. As a result, they tend to have reached saturation and see less need for additional cooperation. At the same time, status also plays a role here: while professors felt the greatest pressure to collaborate interdisciplinarily (Figure 44), they had at the same time achieved a higher level of collaboration in general and in interdisciplinary collaborations in particular (see Figure 13). In addition, their experiences with collaborations were consistently more positive than those of the other status groups (see Figure 25).
Figure 42 Cooperation desire by expectation pressure regarding interdisciplinarity
Figure 43 Expectation pressure and regular interdisciplinarity
Figure 44 Expectation pressure regarding interdisciplinarity by status groups
The multivariate model confirms that a high pressure of expectation regarding interdisciplinary cooperation goes hand in hand with an already existing higher level of interdisciplinary cooperation and with a higher professional status. Furthermore, the female respondents, as well as life and natural scientists, more often perceived a high level of expectation and pressure to cooperate interdisciplinarily, as did the humanities compared to the social sciences (see Figure 45).
Figure 45 Factors influencing the expectation pressure regarding interdisciplinarity
The relationship between the initiation and stability of cooperative relationships and the desire for cooperation
We looked at the extent to which the stability of cooperative relationships is related to the desire for cooperation. Here, only slight associations emerged. Those with predominantly stable collaborative partnerships were more inclined to collaborate than those with predominantly changing collaborative partners (see Figure 46). Regarding the initiation of collaborations, it is less surprising that scientists who wish to collaborate more also stated that their collaborations are more often instigated on their own initiative (see Figure 47).
Figure 46 Desire for cooperation by stability of cooperative relationships
Figure 47 Desire for cooperation by type of cooperation initiation
Factors influencing cooperation potential
Multivariate analyses can be used to examine the weighting of several different factors regarding the desire to collaborate. This shows that essentially five factors were influential (Fig. 48). In particular, the level of existing research collaborations influenced the desire to collaborate: the higher the level already achieved, the lower the desire to collaborate further (see Figure 46). In addition, the influence of the pressure of expectations was also apparent with somewhat less weight, but in the way already described above: people with high expectation levels are less inclined to increase their level of collaboration. Third, the influence of status groups was also evident. Thus, postdocs and predocs tended to have a higher need for more collaborations than professors. Somewhat weaker, but still significant and therefore worth mentioning, were the influences of gender and subject. Respondents from the life sciences more often expressed a desire for more collaboration, as did female respondents compared to their male colleagues.
Figure 48 Factors influencing the potential for cooperation
Since the achieved level of cooperation has the strongest influence on the desire to collaborate further, we wanted to identify the factors that determined the level of cooperation. Here, too, the multiple regression model is useful. It can be seen that it is primarily the pressure of expectations that causes a high level of cooperation in research (Figure 49). In addition, the finding already described for bivariate relations (cf. Figure 3) is stable, namely that the life sciences, natural sciences, and engineering sciences generally have higher levels of research collaboration, while the humanities cooperate significantly less frequently in research. Also, and not to be neglected, is the strong effect among predocs, whose lower level of cooperation is confirmed here even when controlling for all other factors.
Figure 49 Factors influencing the cooperation level