Does your research strategy need more... research?

The last few months I have had the pleasure of going deep into a field of medical research for a client. Throughout the process we interviewed researchers and had conversations with funders, and showed a summary of this work as a way of framing the conversations. On multiple occasions we were told that we should “publish this research” at the end of the project.

Besides how nice it is to hear that from leading researchers, it got me thinking that, indeed, this was a piece of research, and that funders could benefit from approaching their new research strategies as pieces of research: with an experimental plan, a list of hypotheses to test, the willingness to be surprised and change your mind, and the time to explore and chase serendipitous findings.

In that spirit, I have decided to compile a list of questions whose answers can help you have a better understanding of your field, and a better-informed strategy. It is not a comprehensive list by any means, nor I think that every funder needs to answer every question to have a good strategy – however I hope that they serve as a reflection of what approaching your strategy as a research project can help you uncover.

And the kicker? All of the questions below can be answered using open data sources, that can be accessed for free by anyone. Here's the list of questions across 6 different domains.

Workforce

• How many researchers are there in your field?
• How many new early career researchers enter the field? How have these numbers changed the last decade?
• Where are your researchers based: universities, healthcare settings, etc?
• What is the rate of progression from ECR to senior researcher?
• Is career progression even among different genders and ethnicities?

These questions can help you determine if you should focus your efforts on ECRs, if you need to help people transition into senior positions, if it’d be worthwhile ring-fencing funding for some types of researchers, etc.

Research gaps

• What are the key topics being studied in the UK?
• Are there differences between work done in the UK and abroad, due to the available expertise of infrastructure?
• What is the research distribution along the translational pipeline?
• What are the biggest unmet needs in the field?
• Are the research being done and the composition of your workforce a good reflection of those biggest unmet needs?

These questions will tell you if there are specific areas of research you should be focusing on, if your research community is well equipped to answer the most pressing questions in the field, or if you need to bring expertise from adjacent fields, help build infrastructure, develop innovative partnerships to tackle key gaps, etc.

Your research portfolio

• What have you funded historically?
• What has produced better outcomes (e.g., improved patients’ health, led to innovations, helped the field progress, etc.)?
• Has your funding been a good representation of the field’s needs?
• Who have you funded: what is the split across career stage, research area, etc.? Have there been gender or ethnic disparities in your funding outcomes?

The questions will help you gauge if you should continue with your existing processes and programmes, of if you should rethink the way you have done things historically.

Research funding

• How much funding goes into your area of research every year?
• What type of research is being funded?
• Who are the main funding organisations in your area?
• How important is that research compared to their overall portfolio?
• Do they have different niche interests within your field, or are they “generalist” funders?

These questions will inform you who are likely partners in funding calls, or what research you can focus on based on what others are covering.

Collaboration

• How well do UK researchers work together? And internationally?
• Are there specific areas of research that lead to better collaboration?
• Does collaboration impact research quality?
• Who are the most interdisciplinary researchers?
• What countries and organisations does the UK have strongest ties with?

The answer to these questions can help you decide if you need to set up new consortia, promote discussions across different groups that do not work well together, link your researchers with specific international organisations with the right expertise, etc.

Industry interest

• Are private organisations interested in your area of research? How has the interest changed over time?
• What type of research are they funding? (e.g., translational, clinical etc.)
• How well do UK researchers collaborate with industry?
• Does industry collaboration lead to better translation?
• What area of research is leading to more industry innovation?
• How many industry-led clinical trials are there active right now? Is the UK an attractive place to run industry-led trials in your area of research?

These questions will tell you how likely it is that new innovations will lead to better patient outcomes in the future, whether you should engage with regulators to help pave the way for those innovations, or make connections between your fundamental researchers and organisations developing new products.

The above will not make a research strategy on its own – openly available bibliometric data will only go so far! You will still need to seek the input of your scientific community, your patient community and your supporters, and of your own internal stakeholders. After all, “what a field needs” and “what your organisation should or could do” are not necessarily the same thing. However, having the data to back up your claims about what the field needs may help you open (funding) doors that had been previously closed!