A 15-member advisory group explores the future of research
The academic community is confronting a rising tide of challenges, from dwindling funding success rates to acute university staff shortages. These critical pain points underscore an urgent need for actionable insights and decisive strategies.
To address these challenges, ClarivateTM has created a research council that aims to bridge the gap between theoretical and tangible solutions. Comprised of 15 leaders at top research institutions from across the globe, the council includes members from both research offices and libraries. The unique composition is designed to foster collaborative solutions to pressing issues.
Council member Dr. John Donovan, Head of Research and LEAR at Technological University Dublin, said: “Joining the Clarivate research council provides me with practical and strategic intelligence that would be hard to get elsewhere. As a network, it’s hard to beat.”
By gleaning insights directly from those on the front lines of research, Clarivate will create ever more effective and relevant research resources. Council member Maggie Farrell, Dean of University Libraries at University of Nevada, Las Vegas said: “As Clarivate expands its products and services, I hope that collectively we can strengthen research contributions for our society. I am intrigued by how Clarivate’s diverse services can integrate as the company crafts its collective vision.”
At their first meeting in October, the council discussed a variety of concerns that the research community is grappling with. Among them: an intensifying scramble for funding, an urgent need to highlight broader impacts and a push to raise the bar on research quality. As the boundaries of research expand, research offices find themselves wrestling with escalating costs, the challenging task of showcasing more types of impact and navigating shifts in research assessment methodologies.
In their wide-ranging discussion, the council highlighted trends that are impacting the future of research:
- The need to highlight the socioeconomic impacts of research – especially in the run-up to significant research exercises like the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2028 – by harnessing data that goes beyond traditional metrics and captures the full multidimensional nature of research
- Evolving research practices that look further than open access and open science, venturing into community engagement, and pioneering initiatives like citizen science labs that dissolve the boundaries between researchers and the public
- Engagement on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that prioritizes genuine commitment over mere alignment with institutional goals
- Libraries that are increasingly pivotal in driving traditional academic impact as well as broader, community-driven impact – a role akin to the Hemispheric University Consortium, which spans multiple countries and unifies commitment to teaching, research, and learning to solve global issues
- A need for transparent and responsible AI application that enables effortless data sharing and consolidation, making routine tasks more efficient and solving the complexities of research funding, collaboration, and maintaining updated researcher profiles
- Building workplace cultures that help attract and retain research office staff.
Emmanuel Thiveaud, Senior Vice President for Research & Analytics, Academia & Government at Clarivate said: “We’re very excited about the guidance and insights this panel will deliver. By bringing together research office and library leaders to collaborate with our development teams, we’re confident that we will uncover opportunities to develop solutions that empower the research community to meet ambitious goals.”
The research council is part of a larger initiative at Clarivate to uncover and solve pressing challenges facing research offices around the world. Earlier this year, Research Professional News commissioned a global survey of research office leaders and researchers. In a forthcoming webinar, we’ll explore the results and provide a unique look at life on the front lines of research.
Register now for the “Shaping the Research Offices of the Future” webinar on November 29th
