For the past 30 years, Danida (Danish International Development Assistance) has supported research capacity building of scholars in the Global South as a means of including them in the socalled global knowledge economy. This paper presents findings from a study that explores the experiences and reflections of various researchers from Africa involved in this type of research capacity building. It focuses on the implications of the involvement for the scholars’ academic
practice, work, and later career. Based on 14 qualitative interviews and a questionnaire distributed to 500 African former and present PhD- students, the study shows that learning critical thinking, flat social hierarchies, and discussing and sharing knowledge are pivotal for their current research practice. By using the notions Geographies of scientific knowledge and Cultural production of an
educated person, the paper draws attentions to the situatedness of academic practice inherent in this type of transnational support for academic development.