International collaboration in research and education is critical for advancing innovation, fostering knowledge exchange, and addressing the complex and interconnected global challenges facing societies today. Collaborative efforts across borders can lead to groundbreaking discoveries, promote cross-cultural understanding, and provide solutions to problems that transcend national boundaries, such as climate change, health crises, and technological advancement. However, despite the significant potential of international partnerships, this study identifies several key obstacles that continue to obstruct such cooperation, preventing it from reaching its full potential. These obstacles include bureaucratic inefficiencies, funding disparities, and regulatory misalignments, all of which create substantial barriers to effective collaboration.

Another critical challenge identified in the study is the unequal access to funding, which perpetuates disparities between institutions in developed and developing countries. While research funding is abundant in many Western institutions, researchers and academic staff in lower-income countries often face significant challenges in securing the financial resources necessary to engage in international partnerships. This disparity in access to funding not only undermines equitable collaboration but also reinforces global academic inequalities, as institutions in wealthier nations often have the financial advantage in initiating and sustaining research projects. This imbalance has serious implications for the diversity of perspectives in global research and education, limiting the contributions of researchers from underrepresented regions.

To overcome these challenges and promote more effective and equitable global cooperation, the study advocates for several key changes in policy and practice. First, it calls for the development of more flexible funding models that can better accommodate the diverse needs of institutions and researchers from different parts of the world. These models should be designed to ensure that researchers from emerging economies have greater access to financial support, which would enable them to participate in collaborative projects on more equal footing. Second, the study emphasizes the need for harmonised regulations that can streamline the administrative processes involved in international collaboration. By reducing the complexity and variability of regulatory requirements, such as those related to visas and grant applications, international partnerships could be facilitated more efficiently.

Keywords: International research partnerships, bureaucratic barriers in education, funding disparities in collaboration, global knowledge exchange, education policy reform for cooperation.