US-Russian partnerships in science: working with differences

Abstract

In the early 1990s, Russian and US observers were pessimistic about Russian science and its global integration. Yet scientists from the two countries were actively collaborating in new ways nonetheless. In order to explore the nature of those collaborations, we conducted open-ended interviews with 13 US scientists and 13 in Russia who collaborated trans-nationally in 1995–2014. Our results suggest that recognizing and working with differences benefited these colleagues. Despite ongoing political tensions and differences in scientific cultures, respondents told us that understanding those differences – in funding, cultures of doing science, institutional structures, and treatment of graduate students – helped them avoid missteps. Respect for each other’s country’s scientific contributions, interpersonal diplomacy, and personal interconnections further strengthened their work together. Diaspora scientists in particular, played a positive role as mediators and cultural interpreters.