In recent years, there have been many calls at governmental and central administrative levels (within the UK and internationally) to link educational research, policy and practice through collaborative working (see Aglianos et al 2003). In Scotland the impetus for increasing educational research capacity stems from concerns over persistent gaps between research, policy and practice, and disillusionment with the results of dirigiste and narrowly framed utilitarian research policies (Baron 2004). A successful collaboration between three Scottish universities (Edinburgh, Strathclyde and Stirling) has resulted in the Applied Educational Research Scheme (AERS 2003-2008) which aims to increase educational research capacity in Scotland (and beyond) through three substantive networks and research projects that foster collaborations/partnership between academics, policy makers and practitioners. While Pollard (2004) suggests that the best way to meet the conceptual, methodological and transformational challenges facing educational research and to enhance its infrastructure is through ‘collaboration in spirit of inclusiveness’, this approach is not unproblematic. Indeed there are those who question the political rhetoric of partnerships/collaboration as necessary, pragmatic and benevolent, when in practice they are often complex and contradictory (Cardini 2006). There are also critiques of the collaborative enterprise which suggest that collaboration (when used as a metaphor for ‘the network’) has become an all too persuasive form of ‘institutionalised uptopianism’ (Frankham and Howes 2006).

The ways in which collaboration and networks are conceptualized and practiced is therefore important in terms of addressing the challenges for education research outlined above. The definitions of networks, networking and network structures outlined by Keast et al (2004) provide us with a useful framework to explore and reflect upon experiences from research projects embedded within one AERS network. Vignettes will be used to illustrate some of the theoretical and practical realities of collaboration, paying particular attention to notions of trust, and the tensions between competing demands of institution and network in terms of time and priorities.

We will argue that an understanding of networks, networking and network structures can provide a useful framework in which to locate and explore the complexity of collaborative working that recognizes the need to collaborate, while also acknowledging the inherent riskiness involved.