Fostering International Relationships and Opportunities for Collaboration in Science, Engineering, and Health

Scientists are most productive when they can freely exchange knowledge and critically interpret each other's findings. International relationships and collaboration are therefore vital for fostering mutual enrichment, for maximizing scientific progress, and for promoting joint work on global or universal issues. International scientific relationships and collaboration can also be an important bridge between countries that have weak diplomatic relations.

Broadly, the National Academies supports international relationships and collaboration in four areas: international meetings and international scientific organizations, peer review for international collaborative research, international professional development opportunities, and analysis of the conduct of science.

International Meetings and International Scientific Organizations

The National Academies annually convene hundreds of workshops, seminars, and symposiums that bring together scientists from around the world to consider subjects of common interest. The National Academies also regularly forms joint study committees with counterpart academies in other countries.

The National Academies also serve as the adhering body to a number of scientific unions and commissions through a network of U.S. National Committees, which encompass a range of scientific disciplines. The National Academies facilitate collaboration by supporting U.S. participation and leadership in several other international scientific, engineering, and medical organizations, including:


Peer Review for International Collaborative Research

The National Academies administer the peer review of research proposals and grants for two USAID-funded international collaborative research programs: the US-Israel Cooperative Development Research Program and the Middle East Regional Cooperation Program. Those programs provide an opportunity for researchers in the Middle East and developing nations to collaborate with counterparts in Israel and the United States. Learn more about MERC and CDR.


International Professional Development Opportunities

The National Academies administer several professional development opportunities that support international collaboration among early, mid-, and late-career scientists. International Frontiers of Science and Frontiers of Engineering annual symposiums bring together some of the very best young scientists - the next generation of scientific leaders - from a wide variety of disciplines to discuss exciting advances and opportunities in their fields. International scientists are eligible for a number of grant, fellowship, research associateship, and exchange opportunities offered at the National Academies. Learn more about professional development opportunities.


Analysis of the Conduct of Science

An important area of interest at the National Academies is the environment that promotes science and the free exchange of ideas through international collaboration. An array of National Academies programs consider such issues as:

See a complete list of activities through which the Academies foster international collaboration.