Abstract:
The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected the formal procedures for international research collaborations and other interpersonal knowledge sharing practices. Covid-19 restrictions are largely affecting the way of conducting the usual project and research activities. The advice of health authorities is to find an alternative method for these activities. In the present study, a case study approach was applied to investigate the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on international research collaborations. The BRITAE (Building Resilience in Tropical Agro-ecosystems) is an EU Erasmus+ program of the European Union Co-funded project which is being carried out in collaboration with five Sri Lankan universities and four foreign universities. The project activities were severely disrupted from initially planned activities due to the pandemic situation all over the world. Apart from the kick-off meeting, all other steering committee meetings were conducted via the Zoom platform. For the first year of the project, an annual self-assessment exercise was carried out in March 2021 which aimed to identify any shortcomings in project performance in order to rectify them. Further, participant evaluation of project steering committee meetings was carried out to ensure that the meetings taking place in the course of the project were conducted appropriately and effectively. The present study attempts to outline the extent of impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the project activities and to ascertain whether there is a need for modification of activities due to the conditions generated by the pandemic. According to the results, three areas were highlighted for improvements such as active participation of all participants, more disciplined use of technology by participants, and satisfaction of follow-up tasks and time management. The study concluded that, although the project proceeds well in most areas despite the Covid-19 pandemic, more attention should be given to the effectiveness of project activities as a consequence of the quality reduction of activities held via online platforms.
