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World desk3 min

How Scientific Cooperation Can Strengthen Research in Developing Countries

South-South scientific cooperation can strengthen research through joint projects, training and institutional links, when partners share priorities and build lasting local capacity.
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Scientific cooperation among developing countries—often called South-South collaboration—can help build research capacity by linking institutions, researchers and training across borders. It can complement partnerships with wealthier countries, but its value depends on whether it develops local skills and institutions, shares agenda-setting, and serves locally relevant priorities.

What scientific cooperation between developing countries means

South-South scientific cooperation includes joint research, researcher training and mobility, institutional partnerships, and technology transfer between countries commonly described as developing. It can operate alongside North-South partnerships, or within North-South-South arrangements that connect institutions across both groups. These labels describe the direction of cooperation; they do not, by themselves, show who controls the work or who benefits.

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A 2010 review focused on health biotechnology examined these forms of collaboration and drew on a research programme that interviewed 471 experts, mostly in developing countries. Its findings are useful for understanding possible benefits and constraints in that field, but they are not a current survey of all scientific disciplines or countries. Read the review.

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How partnerships can build research capacity

Collaboration can give researchers access to wider knowledge networks and opportunities to share expertise. Joint projects and training may help researchers develop skills, while institutional links can support research bases beyond a single project. Partnerships can also make research more visible and connect work to problems shared across countries or important to local communities.

These are potential outcomes, not automatic effects. The health-biotechnology review discusses capacity-building and research links in that specific area. Whether a partnership strengthens research locally depends on what it funds, what skills it transfers, and whether local institutions can continue the work.

Who sets the research agenda?

Funding and expertise can come from different partners, but the presence of an international funder does not guarantee that priorities are shared. The 2010 review identifies limited funding for South-South work and warns that reliance on external funding can skew research priorities or leave local partners with limited control.

When assessing a partnership, look beyond the number of participating countries. Ask who chooses the research questions, who controls the budget, where training and infrastructure remain, and how the findings are made useful to participating communities. Shared agenda-setting and durable local capacity are stronger signs of mutual cooperation than participation alone.

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Institutional examples in the sources

The 2010 health-biotechnology review describes China-Africa, Africa-India and Brazil-Africa initiatives, alongside support from the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) for training and research links. These examples show forms such cooperation has taken; the review does not establish that each programme remains available today.

A Chinese government document also reports China-Africa joint scientific and technical research demonstration projects. That is the government’s account of the initiatives described in its document, not confirmation of current programme status. Read the Chinese government document.

The review reports that the Chinese Scholarship Council awarded 2,733 scholarships to African students in 2007, equal to 27% of China’s international scholarships worldwide that year. Those figures describe the cited year only, not present-day scholarship totals or shares. The review provides the attribution and context.

Cooperation can also share the costs of research

Some scientific work depends on costly or difficult-to-reach locations. A 2014 SciDev.Net report on Antarctic research described partnership with Chile as a possible way for distant countries to reduce the cost and difficulty of access. This is a field-specific example: it illustrates how partners may share logistical challenges, rather than proving that every international partnership lowers costs. Read the Antarctic research report.

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How to judge whether a partnership is likely to help

  • Direction and role: Identify whether the arrangement is South-South, North-South or North-South-South, and what each partner contributes.
  • Shared authority: Check whether participating institutions have a meaningful role in choosing priorities and directing the work.
  • Local capacity: Look for training, institutional links and skills that remain with local researchers and organizations.
  • Relevant questions: Consider whether the research addresses needs shared by the partners or priorities identified locally.
  • Funding resilience: Ask whether the work can continue without leaving local partners dependent on external funding or with little control over the agenda.

These questions distinguish collaboration that merely connects institutions from cooperation designed to strengthen their ability to conduct and shape research over time.

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