How do you ensure sustainable and resilient research funding?

1 Know your goals and needs

Before you start looking for funding opportunities, you need to have a clear vision of your research goals and needs. What are the main questions, problems, or gaps you want to address? What are the expected outcomes, outputs, and impacts of your research? How much time, money, and resources do you need to achieve them? How do you measure and demonstrate your progress and success? Having a well-defined and realistic research plan will help you identify and prioritize the most suitable and relevant funding sources and schemes for your project.

2 Diversify your funding portfolio

Relying on a single or limited source of funding can expose you to risks and uncertainties, such as changes in policies, priorities, or budgets. To ensure sustainable and resilient research funding, you should diversify your funding portfolio and seek multiple and complementary sources of income. For example, you can explore different types of funding, such as grants, contracts, donations, sponsorships, or fees. You can also look for different funders, such as government agencies, foundations, corporations, or individuals. Moreover, you can apply for different levels of funding, such as local, national, regional, or international.

3 Build and maintain relationships

Research funding is not only about money, but also about relationships. Building and maintaining strong and trustful relationships with your funders, partners, and stakeholders can increase your chances of securing and renewing funding, as well as expanding your network and opportunities. To build and maintain relationships, you should communicate effectively and regularly with your funders, partners, and stakeholders. You should also acknowledge their contributions, report on your achievements and challenges, and solicit their feedback and input. Additionally, you should seek opportunities to collaborate, co-create, and co-fund with other researchers and organizations in your field or across disciplines.

4 Adapt to changing contexts

Research funding is not static, but dynamic and responsive to changing contexts and needs. To ensure sustainable and resilient research funding, you should be aware of and adapt to the trends, opportunities, and challenges in your field and in the funding landscape. You should monitor and evaluate your research performance and impact, and adjust your goals, methods, and activities accordingly. You should also scan and anticipate the emerging issues, demands, and expectations of your funders, partners, and stakeholders, and align your research agenda and value proposition with them. Furthermore, you should be flexible and creative in finding and applying for new or alternative sources of funding that match your research interests and capabilities.

5 Invest in your skills and capacity

Research funding is not only about the quality of your research, but also about the quality of your skills and capacity. To ensure sustainable and resilient research funding, you should invest in developing and enhancing your skills and capacity in various aspects of research funding, such as finding, applying, managing, reporting, and disseminating funding. You should also seek and use the available resources and support services that can help you improve your skills and capacity, such as training, mentoring, coaching, or consulting. Additionally, you should share and learn from the best practices and experiences of other researchers and organizations in your field or across sectors.

6 Seek feedback and improvement

Research funding is not only about the outcomes of your research, but also about the process of your research. To ensure sustainable and resilient research funding, you should seek feedback and improvement on your research process and performance from various sources, such as your funders, partners, stakeholders, peers, or experts. You should also reflect on your strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures, and lessons learned from your research funding activities. Moreover, you should use the feedback and reflection to identify and address the gaps, challenges, or opportunities for improvement in your research funding strategy and practice.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?