Table 1.

Themes organised according to the Bergen Model of Collaborative Functioning and from interviews

Global theme	Organising themes	Themes from interviews
Input	Mission	Health research to improve healthcare
		Desire to authentically contribute to mission
		Personal livelihood
		Professional/career goals
	Partner resources	Southern partner’s capacity to contribute to the mission underutilised
		Responsibility of northern partners to build capacity
	Financial resources	Ninety percent funding from northern partners
Throughput	Input interaction: power	Power to delegate tasks
		Power to dictate timeline
		Power to dictate expenditures
		Communication: transparency
Output	Synergy	Infrastructure development
	Antagony	Authorship and publication of study results
		Access and use of health research data