India Research Management Initiative (IRMI) – an initiative for building research capacity in India

Abstract

Research and innovation are growing in India with significant investments being made towards institutions, researchers and research infrastructure. Although still under 1% of GDP, funding for science and technology in India has increased each year for over two decades. There is also increasing realization that public funding for research should be supplemented with that from industry and philanthropy. Like their counterparts worldwide, Indian researchers require access to professional research management support at their institutions to fully leverage emerging scientific opportunities and collaborations. However, there are currently significant gaps in the research management support available to these researchers and this has implications for research in India. The India Research Management Initiative (IRMI) was launched by the Wellcome Trust/DBT (Department of Biotechnology, Government of India) India Alliance (hereafter India Alliance) in February 2018 to narrow these gaps. A 12-month pilot phase has enabled conversations across multiple stakeholders. In this Open Letter, we share some insights from the IRMI pilot phase, which could aid systemic development and scaling up of research management as a professional support service across India. We anticipate these will stimulate dialogue and guide future policy and interventions towards building robust research and innovation ecosystems in India.

Middle-income country perspectives on global mental health

“…In India, the India Research Management Initiative, a research capacity-building programme, was launched in February 2018 to help create awareness for research management, engage in dialogue with Indian institutions and build a baseline of information to base future policy development and funding opportunities on [46]. The challenges to research capacity-building include lack of leadership support for research management, lack of administrative support and inadequate career development for researchers [46]. The African Mental Health Research Initiative is a mental health research capacity-building initiative established in 2015 [47].…”

Challenges in the execution of public health research: Reflections from Public Health Research Initiative (PHRI) grant management in India

“…Although research is increasingly recognized as one of the dynamic forces behind global health and development, the research output from low- and middle-income countries such as India compares poorly with high-income countries [ 6 ]. Quality research output from India is grossly lacking, and there is relatively little research output in several diseases/ conditions that cause a significant disease burden in India [ 7 ]. A study conducted by Dandona et al revealed that many leading causes of disease burden across communicable, non-communicable diseases, injuries, and other health priorities continued to be underrepresented in public health research output [ 8 ].…”

“…Research and innovation are growing in India, with significant investments being made towards institutions, researchers, and research infrastructure [ 7 ]. Multiple fellowships have been offered at a national and global scale for capacity building in public health research; however, the difficulties faced during public health research grant management are poorly researched.…”