Author
Abstract
This paper examines the quantitative and qualitative effects of the first call of the Bekker Programme, funded by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange. The program supports the outgoing temporary international mobility of scholars. Its first call funded 152 scholars. The study employs a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative analysis using the interrupted time series method and qualitative analysis of final reports submitted by Bekker Programme beneficiaries. Quantitative data from the Web of Science database were analyzed to measure the number of papers published, the number of internationally co-authored works, and the number of citations for beneficiaries before and after the program’s implementation. The quantitative findings did not show a statistically significant increase in the number of publications or citations attributable to the program. However, there was a significant positive impact on international collaboration, as evidenced by an increase in internationally co-authored publications. Qualitative analysis of the beneficiary final reports revealed a broader spectrum of impacts, including enhanced scientific competencies, experience of different organizational cultures, networking and collaboration. The contributions of this article to the literature are threefold. First, empirical findings on the impact of a mobility program from a scientific periphery are presented, highlighting its possible transformative benefits. Second, a mixed-methods approach is employed that captures both objective quantitative effects and subjective outcomes, thereby acknowledging the multidimensional impact of mobility grants and offering practical insights for policymakers. Third, an empirical analysis of the eightfold mobility impacts framework is provided through a bottom-up coding analysis of qualitative data, demonstrating the framework’s applicability and robustness in a novel context.
Suggested Citation
Adam Ploszaj, 2025.
"A mixed-methods evaluation of a Polish international researcher mobility grant scheme,"
PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(6), pages 1-24, June.
Handle:
RePEc:plo:pone00:0327196
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0327196
Download full text from publisher
Corrections
All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0327196. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through
the various RePEc services.