Strengthening research and innovation systems in middle and lower-income countries
FCDO report to consolidate existing evidence, learning and conceptual thinking on how international actors can effectively support the strengthening of R&I systems to deliver development impacts.
Project team members
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Date
November 2024
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Area of expertiseResearch and Evidence (R&E)
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Client
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
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Project status
Active
Together with Oxentia, we were commissioned by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to produce an evidence base and suggest key design features for a new programme to strengthen Research and Innovation systems in middle and lower-income countries.
The report found that capacity strengthening for these systems has substantial potential to deliver long-term sustainable benefits, but that the systems are complicated and differ between countries, and that not every intervention works well as a standalone. For example, funding PhDs for individual researchers often leaves little capacity behind in the national system, and international schemes don’t work the same way in different countries because of the variation in systems.
Fortunately, FCDO is able to place itself to take account of international schemes and national conditions, and to adjust its own efforts to be complimentary and help make the most of the combined efforts of all actors.