"Each year, there is over $26 billion in investment by the Australian government in research and development. Less than 1% results in a direct commercial outcome. If research funders were more like venture capitalists and treated knowledge as a product, how could this help lift research impact?"
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Research organisations rely on various forms of government and industry-managed funds to support their research activities. Typically, there is an announcement or research call with a problem or area to which the funder will commit resources. More applied research applications must increasingly articulate how to deliver on-ground benefits or impacts that address a problem.
Researchers will align their unique and core research capabilities with the problem statement. They will develop a research plan and budget to deliver insights and/or technologies that can be used to address the core problem. A typical research plan will include a section that addresses a plan for 'impact', 'engagement', 'commercialisation' and/or 'extension'. The trick is to ensure the application demonstrates an achievable deliverable that can be measured in a final report.
An investor in a start-up approaches on-ground benefits and impact through the lens of how an insight and/or technology can solve a problem. The investor recognises uncertainty and wants the start-up to quickly remove these uncertainties and find product market fit where the benefits are clear and have demonstrated value for a group of people or market segment. Crucial to investment is presenting market feedback based on market testing or research.
Using strategies to ensure research investments deliver knowledge-based insights and are captured in computer code that can connect with users might help researchers and research funders get 'market' feedback. This 'market' feedback will help drive a greater return on investment from research funding. Here are some tips on how funders can help drive researchers to improve the return on investment from research investments.
There are lots of tools available to help researchers share access to their code. They don't have to write an app or even hand over source code. Cloud computing infrastructure provides a framework where researchers can allow users to see the results of their data analysis or modelling framework.
When a researcher is encouraged to make a direct living connection with an end-user this helps them better understand the challenges and opportunities of their research insights.