Why collaborate?

What can collaboration contribute?

Collaborating with actors outside of academia allows you to advance your research by leveraging the knowledge, needs and resources of others. Collaboration can help you:

• formulate more relevant research questions;
• gain access to methods, data or environments you might not otherwise have;
• improve exposure to and use of your results; and
• build networks that open up new opportunities. 

For many researchers, collaboration can also improve decision-making processes, offer new solutions and help ensure a more sustainable development of society.

When is collaboration relevant?

You are best able to answer this question. But collaboration can be especially valuable when you want to:

• understand the needs of users;
• test an idea or method in practice;
• reach new target groups with your results; and
• develop a project or submit an application together with others.

Think of collaboration as a tool you can use where it strengthens your research, not as something extra that is less important.

What is considered collaboration?

Fundamentally, collaboration is about developing knowledge for mutual benefit. This can mean that you:

• present an idea to professionals and receive feedback;
• formulate questions or methods together with users;
• invite an organisation to contribute to a project and learn about the results; or
• stay in touch with a partner throughout the research process. 

The form you choose depends on the purpose and context. Collaboration often begins with a discussion, a workshop or feedback from an external actor. It does not always have to be something as big as a joint project.

Collaborations in applications

Many funding bodies, both national and international, require collaboration. To increase your chances of being awarded funding, you often need to be able to show:

• who you plan to collaborate with and in what way;
• how the results can be useful and for whom; and
• how you plan to disseminate the new knowledge.