U.S.-China Rivalry and Scientific Nationalism in Nanotechnology

Intensifying competition between the U.S. and China is recalibrating the balance between collaboration and competition in academic science among the two largest economies and global science producers. We explore the trajectory of nanotechnology research collaboration between the U.S. and China, and probe the impacts of U.S.-China decoupling on research impact. We trace changes in the frequency of U.S.-China research collaboration between 2012-2024 and investigate whether the impact of research sponsored by American and Chinese funding agencies has changed in parallel with evolving patterns of research collaboration in this period. We find a decline in U.S.-China co-authorship, which accelerates in the late 2010s. Additionally, we observe a decrease in the impact of publications funded by U.S. funding agencies – a trend not mirrored in outputs supported by Chinese funding bodies. This study contributes to the growing body of literature exploring the influence of geopolitical dynamics on scientific activity.