Guidelines for scientific collaboration with the People's Republic of China
Why those guidelines?
Scientific collaboration with foreign countries might sometimes lead researchers to complex situations that are difficult to assess, due to different social and political organisations and value system. This has become particularly true of collaborations with the People's Republic of China (hereafter: China). Those guidelines have been drafted in order to help UNIGE researchers to self-evaluate their collaborations on a voluntary basis and develop reliable and safe practices. It can also be used by principal investigators (PI) to increase awareness among members of their teams about risky practices. By doing so, it is foreseen that academic links with China can be made sustainable and operational in the long term, leading to a mutually enriching collaboration.
Although most of the recommendations made in this document could easily be translated to other countries, the focus on China is explained by the conjunction of the following factors:
- China has become a major scientific power and is now a key player in research.
- Swiss Higher Education Institutions have established a high number of collaborations with Chinese partners.
- China has developed a model of political organisations, which includes a strong government, restriction of individual liberties and voluntary policies targeted to the development of education and research
- Public debate around Sino-Swiss relations is growing and will increasingly involve the research and science field.
Read more about Higher Education and Research in the Chinese context
How to use these guidelines?
- The guidelines first proposes a checklist of questions for voluntary self-evaluation, which will help you to quickly identify best practices, possible risks and relevant regulations/procedures. Start the self-evaluation here or download the PDF version
- To go further, a link at the end of each category of questions provides scholars with basic background information.
- Finally, to fully grasp the complexity of the issues, you can visit the page containing a list of numerous references and links.
If you identify problematic practices or issues, a group of experts is available to give you further guidance and refine your self-evaluation. It can be contacted by sending an email to: