Supported by the Volkswagen Foundation, this four-year interdisciplinary project examines the “Science Silk Road” as an emerging site of scientific cooperation, infrastructure-building, and geopolitical contestation under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It investigates how the infrastructures and transnational networks associated with the “Science Silk Road” are reshaping knowledge production across the South, North, and beyond, while also raising concerns about a distinct form of “Chinese science” reflected in funding priorities, data governance, research norms, and strategic partnerships. At the same time, these developments are tied not only to innovation, sustainable development, and responses to global challenges, but also to intensifying geopolitical competition.

Addressing a major research gap, the project studies how the “Science Silk Road” is shaping research, society, and development in BRI countries and globally. It combines perspectives from international relations, sociology of science, science and technology studies, anthropology, and geography with a multi-method design. Case studies across regions and projects, from Africa to Southeast Asia, are paired with interviews, a survey, and in-depth analysis of diverse materials. These qualitative approaches are complemented by scientometric analyses conducted with collaborators at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (Fraunhofer ISI), allowing the project to trace how policy priorities are reflected in joint publications and patents and how these patterns compare with established scientific partnerships and alliances.