This is the third in a four-part blog series on the challenges faced by practitioners of Research Uptake. In Part I we explored the concept of Research Uptake and in Part II, we explored challenges that exist in the field at systemic level. In this third blog, we examine institutional barriers to Research Uptake.

Institutional barriers to Research Uptake

Focusing now mainly on the supply side of research at an organisational level, given all the systemic challenges, one of the biggest barriers to research uptake is figuring out where to start and how to institutionalise appropriate systems and processes that support research uptake activities. Does a research institute need a central communications/ marketing/ dissemination/ media relations/ knowledge management team? If so, where should it sit? In a grant management office? By itself? As part of the IT department? In the library?

On top of that, where are the capacities for research uptake best placed? Certain skills probably need to remain with individual researchers, but some are probably better supported by an outside team.

Funding research activities is also usually a challenge. It depends on the funding models employed by an individual institute, but many (maybe even most, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa) institutes lack core funding, and must raise money through projects or other sources. Striking a balance between support to projects versus strengthening and supporting institutional engagement is key, and is also hugely difficult. Does a central team get funded out of overheads? Do they try to support themselves through their own projects and research?

And from an institutional perspective, brain drain is always a worry. If organisations invest in building research uptake skills, there’s no guarantee staff will stick around and that they will continue to benefit from these skills. Researchers may end up in a relevant ministry, for example (though this could turn out to be a good thing for the institution). More centralised teams with specific transferable skills often find themselves poached by the private sector, and in developing countries, especially, by international agencies and non-governmental organisations.

Jeff Knezovich is the Policy Influence and Research Uptake Manager for the Future Health Systems Research Consortium based at the Institute of Development Studies in the UK.