title: Nesting doctoral students in collaborative North-South partnerships for health systems research.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The European Union (EU) supports North-South Partnerships and collaborative research projects through its Framework Programmes and Horizon 2020. There is limited research on how such projects can be harnessed to provide a structured platform for doctoral level studies as a way of strengthening health system research capacity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to explore the challenges of, and facilitating factors for, 'nesting' doctoral students in North-South collaborative research projects. The term nesting refers to the embedding of the processes of recruiting, supervising, and coordinating doctoral students in the overall research plan and processes.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional qualitative study was undertaken by the EU-funded QUALMAT Project. A questionnaire was implemented with doctoral students, supervisors, and country principal investigators (PIs), and content analysis was undertaken.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Completed questionnaires were received from nine doctoral students, six supervisors, and three country PIs (86% responses rate). The doctoral students from SSA described high expectations about the input they would receive (administrative support, equipment, training, supervision). This contrasted with the expectations of the supervisors for proactivity and self-management on the part of the students. The rationale for candidate selection, and understandings of the purpose of the doctoral students in the project were areas of considerable divergence. There were some challenges associated with the use of the country PIs as co-supervisors. Doctoral student progress was at times impeded by delays in the release of funding instalments from the EU. The paper provides a checklist of essential requirements and a set of recommendations for effective nesting of doctoral students in joint North-South projects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are considerable challenges to the effective nesting of doctoral students within major collaborative research projects. However, ways can be found to overcome them. The nesting process ultimately helped the institutions involved in this example to take better advantage of the opportunities that collaborative projects offer to foster North-South partnerships as a contribution to the strengthening of local research capacity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; svetla.loukanova@urz.uni-heidelberg.de.
authors.forename: Svetla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Loukanova
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Prytherch
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacoepidemiology, Internal Medicine Department, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Antje
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blank
authors.affiliation: International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Els
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Duysburgh
authors.affiliation: Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Medical Management Centre (MMC), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Public Health Sciences, Health Systems and Policy, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tomson
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet at Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lars L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Gustafsson
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna, Nouna, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sié
authors.affiliation: Navrongo Health Research Centre, Navrongo, Ghana.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health and Social Sciences, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Melkizedeck
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leshabari
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacoepidemiology, Internal Medicine Department, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Walter E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Haefeli
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sauerborn
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fonn
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005062:European Union / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D008297:Male; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: North–South Partnership; collaborative project; doctoral students; health systems research capacity