The Impact of Faculty Members’ International Collaboration on the Centrality Measure of their Local Collaboration Network: The Case of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Selected Iranian Universities

Abstract

The importance of scientific collaborations is mainly because of the professional learning obtained from the formation of research connections. Each researcher brings a feature and advantage to the research team, such as mastering a particular topic and its subdivisions or improving team thinking. The importance of collaboration is doubled when researchers collaborate at the international level, resulting in access to up-to-date resources and equipment, consequently increasing the quantity, quality, and impact of research activities. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of international collaboration of faculty members on the centrality of the university network collaborations, which measures how much a scientist is at the center of a local collaboration network. The data is taken from faculty members’ publications in the electrical and computer engineering departments of the selected Iranian universities (the Isfahan University of Technology, Iran University of Science and Technology, Amirkabir University of Technology, University of Tehran, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, and the Sharif University of Technology). Using multiple linear regression, the results show a twofold effect: The significant positive effect of having international collaboration on the centrality degree of scientists’ network and the significant negative effect of the international collaborations over the total collaborations ratio on the centrality degree. This means that international collaborations of faculty members per se put them at the center of the university network. However, this positive effect turns negative if its weight is dominant compared to all publications. The finding highlights the importance of a balance between international and local collaborations.