The thesis is an investigation into the spatio-temporal knowledge creation of international research groups. Knowledge is spatial: it is created in geographical places, shared in communicative space and analyzed in the cognitive space of the mind. Knowledge is a process that evolves in the interactions and interpretations of people. It is created in the tempo of working days that is experienced as flowing or disrupted time. These dimensions of spaces and times come together as the contexts of knowledge creation. In current internationalizing universities, work groups increasingly consist of members from different countries and with varying professional backgrounds. In their endeavor to create globally renowned results, the international research groups are both challenged and enabled by their diversity. Multiple views can benefit the creation of novelty, but reaching a common understanding in a diverse group might not be easy. Current research calls for a more detailed understanding of the processes and contexts of knowledge creation in international groups. The empirical part of the thesis is comprised of two case study compilations. Case A focuses on the University of Oulu, with its foreign employees and three international research groups from the humanist, scientific and technical fields. Four international research groups from the fields of science and technology, led by top foreign professors and funded by the Finland Distinguished Professor Programme, form case B. Altogether, the main materials include 37 interviews, 123 weekly diaries, observation and a survey (67 replies). The main methods applied are mental mapping, discourse analysis and content analysis. According to the results, knowledge creation is a complex spatio-temporal process that often leads to unexpected results. Processes of interaction and interpretation enable the group to reach cognitive friction. This fertile ground of knowledge creation can be reached when a group possesses enough common understanding and enough diversity in their individual interpretations. Humanist, scientific and technical knowledges are created in multiple contexts through groupspecific discourses. Knowledge itself is a spatio-temporal process of stages, flows and disruptions towards the not-yet-known. Knowledge is inseparable from individuals, groups, the processes and contexts of creation.
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